FRANCES  B.  PACKARD 

(Mr*.  Harry  P. ) 


BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

of  the 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  U.  S.  A. 
156  FIFTH  AVENUE.  NEW  YORK 

1920 


EDITOR’S  NOTE 

In  the  spring  of  1920  the  author  of  these 
pages,  with  her  husband,  Dr.  Henry  P. 
Packard,  and  her  five  boys  came  out  of  the 
thick  of  the  experiences  she  records  to  seek 
sorely  needed  rest  and  refreshment  during 
furlough  year. 

It  means  much,  therefore,  to  have  this 
story  from  her  pen — a story  written  in  the 
midst  of  summer  conference  work  and  a 
round  of  visits  to  relatives  and  friends. 

The  Editor  would  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Dr.  Packard  was  the  missionary 
hero  of  the  story  told  on  page  five.  As 
the  successor  of  the  beloved  Dr.  Cochran, 
Dr.  Packard  wields  a vast  influence  in  Persia. 


B.  Carter  Millikin. 


The  Story  of  Our  Missions  in  Persia 


Chapter  I 

THE  WORLD  WAR  IN  THE 
PERSIAN  MISSIONS 

K 

AS  we  were  on  our  way  home  from  Persia  in  April, 
1920,  I was  asked  by  a lady  whom  we  met  on  the 
. steamer  where  we  had  come  from.  When  I an- 
swered, “From  Persia,”  she  said,  “Way  out  in  Persia! 
Then  you  did  not  see  anything  of  the  War,  did  you?” 
When  I gave  her  a list  of  the  main  events  of  the  War,  as 
the  missionaries  in  Urumia  saw  them — three  Russian  occu- 
pations and  evacuations;  two  British  occupations  and 
evacuations;  one  Christian  regime;  one  period  of  nominal 
Persian  authority,  which  was  practically  Kurdish  control; 
massacres  on  a dozen  different  occasions,  of  from  forty  or 
fifty  to  more  than  2,000  native  Christians;  crowding  of  the 
Mission  yards  with  from  500  to  15,000  refugees  five  or  six 
times,  the  refugees  remaining  for  a period  of  from  five  days 
to  six  months ; epidemics,  famine  and  deportation — she  said 
with  almost  a gasp,  “Well,  you  did  see  something  of  the 
War !” 

The  story  of  Persia  during  the  War  is  indeed  lurid, 
for  though  Persia  as  a government  remained  neutral,  wars 
raged  almost  continually  in  parts  of  her  territory.  Hostile 
armies  ravaged  the  country,  destroyed  crops,  killed  thou- 
sands of  men,  women  and  children,  and  carried  hundreds 
of  helpless  women  and  girls  into  captivity,  and  pestilence 
and  famine  stalked  through  the  land. 

In  order  to  understand  the  situation,  one  must  have 
some  idea  of  the  political  conditions  in  Persia  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  War.  The  Persian  revolution  of  1905  to  1909 
was  an  effort  to  replace  an  absolute  monarchy  with  a con- 
stitutional government.  The  history  of  Persia  for  decades 

3 


had  been  "a  tale  of  tyranny,  cruelty  and  misgovernment 
on  the  one  side,  and  disorder,  robbery  and  rebellion  on 
the  other.” 

The  friends  of  Persia  hoped  that  the  overthrow  of 
monarchical  power  would  mean  a new  and  better  Persia; 
and  so  it  might  have,  if  some  stronger  nations  had  been 
ready  to  help  her  during  a probably  long  period  of  neces- 
sary reformation.  Persia  lacked  money  and  strong  men, 
and  she  became  the  victim  of  the  struggle  of  European 
powers  for  the  mastery  of  Asia. 

Mr.  Herbert  Adams  Gibbons,  in  “The  New  Map  of 
Asia,”  sets  forth  in  no  uncertain  terms  the  selfishness  and 
greed  of  the  two  great  powers  which  have  sacrificed  the 
political  independence  and  economic  prosperity  of  Persia 
in  order  to  carry  out  their  own  imperialistic  ambitions. 
Schemings  and  intrigues  led  to  the  consummation  of  the 
Anglo-Russian  Agreement,  which,  communicated  to  the 
Ambassadors  of  the  powers  in  Petrograd  on  September 
24,  1907,  established  a Russian  zone  in  the  north,  a British 
zone  in  the  south  and  a neutral  zone  between.  The  Per- 
sians, because  they  had  no  force  with  which  to  oppose  it, 
were  compelled  to  submit  and  to  suffer  the  disastrous 
political  and  economic  consequences. 

When  Mohammed  Ali  Mirza  came  to  the  throne,  and 
in  the  autumn  of  1906  convoked  the  first  Parliament  at 
Teheran,  the  Liberals  in  Persia  had  great  hopes  for  the 
future.  There  followed  three  years  of  conflict  between 
the  Shah  and  the  Parliament,  involving  the  country  in 
civil  war.  Finally,  in  the  summer  of  1909,  Mohammed  Ali 
was  deposed,  and  his  twelve-year-old  son,  Sultan  Ahmed 
Shah,  was  declared  Ruler.  But  still  Persia  did  not  have 
peace  because  it  did  not  suit  Russia  and  Great  Britain  to 
have  her  quiet.  Disturbances  in  Persia  gave  excuses  for 
these  two  powers  to  intervene,  and  consequently  disorders 
were  deliberately  fomented  by  them.  Russia  sent  more 
troops  into  North  Persia  and  finally  occupied  Tabriz  and 
established  a military  governor  for  the  Province  of  Azer- 
baijan. Great  Britain,  in  the  meantime,  policed  the  south- 
ern trade  routes  and  finally  sent  Indian  troops  into  the 

4 


interior.  When  an  American  commission,  at  Persia’s  re- 
quest, came  to  take  charge  of  her  finances,  and  when  the 
leader,  Mr.  Shuster,  dared  to  defy  the  partitioners  of 
Persia,  Russia  and  England  demanded  the  dismissal  of 
the  Americans  and  a promise  that  all  advisers  should  be 
appointed  only  after  consultation  with  the  Russian  and 
British  ministers.  There  followed  months  of  bullying  on 
the  part  of  the  two  great  powers,  which  reduced  Persia 
to  a state  of  financial  and  economic  slavery. 

This  was  Persia’s  condition  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Great  War.  Let  us  now  take  a more  careful  look  at  the 
Province  of  Azerbaijan,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Persia, 
for  that  region  was  the  storm  center.  There  are  two  sta- 
tions of  the  Presbyterian  Board  in  this  district;  each  con- 
sists of  five  or  six  families  and  about  the  same  number  of 
single  missionaries.  These  two  stations  are  situated  near 
Lake  Urumia,  Tabriz  on  the  east  side  and  Urumia  on  the 
west.  Tabriz  is  the  capital  of  the  province,  and  commer- 
cially the  most  important  city  in  Persia.  It  is,  next  to 
Teheran,  the  largest  city  of  the  country.  The  population 
of  both  cities  is  prevailingly  Mohammedan,  but  each  has 
a Christian  quarter,  in  Tabriz  mostly  of  Armenians  and  in 
Urumia  mostly  Syrians.  For  reasons  both  geographical 
and  commercial,  Tabriz  suffered  less  than  Urumia. 

The  city  of  Urumia  lies  in  the  center  of  a plain,  well 
watered  by  three  rivers,  dotted  with  four  hundred  villages, 
sixty  of  which  were  Christian,  twenty  part  Christian  and 
part  Mohammedan  and  the  rest  Mohammedan.  This  plain 
lies  between  Lake  Urumia  on  the  east,  the  mountains  of  Kur- 
distan on  the  west  and  lesser  mountains  on  the  north  and 
south,  separating  it  from  the  plains  of  Salmas  and  Sulduz, 
respectively.  It  is  a fertile  country  and  yields  rich  crops 
of  grapes,  wheat,  rice,  tobacco,  and  various  fruits  and 
almonds.  The  annual  export  of  raisins  from  Christian 
villages  alone  in  normal  times  was  worth  nearly  a million 
dollars.  It  is  a land  which,  under  a decent  government, 
would  be  a veritable  paradise. 

The  Syrian  population  of  Persia  was  estimated  before 
the  War  at  i 6,000  living  in  villages  and  fche  city  of  Urumia 

5 


and  in  the  plain  of  Salmas.  A much  smaller  number  of 
Armenians  live  chiefly  in  the  Salmas  and  Khoi  regions  and 
in  a few  small  villages  near  Urumia.  Four  Missions  were 
carrying  on  work  among  these  people.  The  Presbyterians 
had  the  oldest  and  largest  Mission  in  Urumia,  with  a 
smaller  one  in  Salmas.  A Roman  Catholic  Mission  was 
carried  on  in  both  places,  but  chiefly  in  Salmas,  by  the 
order  of  Lazarists.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury’s  Mis- 
sion was  doing  a small  work  in  Urumia,  and  a larger  one 
among  the  Syrians  in  the  mountains.  The  Russian  Ortho- 
dox Mission,  by  reason  of  Russian  political  ascendency, 
had  won  many  converts  and  was  carrying  on  a large  work. 

Our  troubles  in  Urumia  began  three  weeks  before  the 
declaration  of  war  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  when,  from 
the  9th  to  the  12th  of  October,  1914,  the  Turks  and  their 
half-savage  allies,  the  Kurds,  attacked  Urumia.  Several 
villages  were  destroyed,  and  their  surviving  inhabitants  fled 
to  the  city.  The  Russians  defended  the  town  and  after- 
wards armed  the  Christians  in  outlying  villages  to  defend 
themselves  in  case  of  another  attack.  They  also  fortified 
the  city  by  trenches  and  defences  on  all  sides  and  declared 
their  intention  to  hold  Urumia  at  any  cost. 

After  the  formal  declaration  of  war,  the  Turks  invaded 
Transcaucasia  and  threatened  the  communications  of  the 
Russians  in  Persia  with  their  base  in  the  Caucasus.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  the  Russians  evacuated  Urumia  sud- 
denly on  January  2,  1915;  Salmas  on  January  4th,  and 
Tabriz  on  the  5th.  With  the  Russians  all  the  Christian 
population  of  Urumia  and  Salmas  fled,  except  such  as  were 
not  physically  able  or  who  had  not  sufficient  warning  to 
get  away.  The  story  of  this  flight  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  people,  in  the  bitter  cold  of  mid-winter,  is  appal- 
ling. Many  perished  by  the  way,  the  aged  and  children 
falling  from  exhaustion  and  exposure,  and  many  mothers 
dying  in  child-birth.  Many  others  died  of  disease  after 
crossing  the  Russian  border,  where  they  scattered  in  the 
villages  and  towns  of  Transcaucasia, 

The  departure  of  the  Russians  was  the  signal  for  the 
Kurds  to  rush  upon  the  defenceless  plain,  and  from  the 

6 


2d  to  the  10th  of  January  they  and  the  Persian  rabble 
wrought  havoc  in  the  outlying  Christian  villages.  Several 
thousand  Christian  villagers  found  refuge  with  kindly  Mo- 
hammedan neighbors;  a few  saved  their  lives  by  profes- 
sing Mohammedanism;  more  than  a thousand  died  as 
martyrs  to  their  faith,  and  over  two  hundred  women  and 
girls  were  carried  off  into  captivity.  About  15,000 
reached  the  three  compounds  of  the  American  Mission  and 
found  safety  under  the  American  flag,  while  three  thousand 
took  refuge  in  the  French  Mission  compound. 

Days  of  greatest  anguish  followed  when  we  questioned 
whether  the  invading  Turks  would  respect  our  flag  or  not; 
and,  if  they  did,  whether  they  could  hold  in  check  their 
lawless  Kurdish  allies.  It  was  then  that  the  value  of  years 
of  our  Mission’s  service  became  apparent;  for,  though  the 
American  flag  did  much,  no  one  doubts  that  the  personal 
influence  of  our  own  men  accomplished  more. 

During  January  2d  and  3d,  refugees  from  all  the  vil- 
lages of  the  plain  and  the  Christian  quarter  of  the  city 
poured  into  our  yards.  They  filled  all  the  available  school 
rooms,  cellars,  hallways,  closets,  offices,  treasury  room  and 
church.  The  missionary  residences  were  invaded,  each 
family  taking  in  at  least  the  immediate  relatives  of  its 
own  servants  and  frequently  others.  Fiske  Seminary  was 
the  storm  center,  as  it  were.  Babies  were  bom  and  people 
died  outside  the  ladies’  kitchen  door.  A dark  closet  under 
the  stairway  was  used  as  a cell  for  the  crazy,  and  at  other 
times  a place  to  die  in  for  old  women  who  could  not  take 
care  of  their  needs  and  who  had  no  one  to  help  them. 

Later,  as  village  after  village  emptied  itself  at  our 
doors,  adjoining  properties  were  commandeered,  holes 
knocked  through  the  walls,  their  own  street  gates  being 
barricaded,  and  thus  ten  or  more  yards  were  added  to  our 
city  premises.  Still  later,  houses  across  the  street  and 
farther  away  were  necessary. 

In  Sardari,  our  Moslem  Boys’  School  property,  Rev. 
Jacob  David  (the  Syrian  head  teacher)  had  charge  of 
nearly  a thousand  refugees.  In  the  school  room  of  the 
seminary,  seating  usually  120  girls,  about  400  people  were 

7 


crowded,  with  no  room  to  lie  down  at  night.  In  the  church, 
where  there  were  over  3,000,  it  was  even  worse. 

A bread  department  was  organized,  with  Miss  Lewis 
in  charge.  Most  of  the  refugees  had  no  food — several 
thousand  of  them  were  mountaineers  and  the  lowest  type 
of  villagers  of  the  plain,  and  “about  as  easy  to  manage 
as  a drove  of  wild  Texas  steers  in  a stampede.”  Over 
five  tons  of  bread  were  given  out  daily;  each  person  was 
allowed  one  sheet  of  bread  per  day,  about  ten  and  a half 
ounces,  and  most  of  them  had  nothing  else  for  months. 

The  work  of  sanitation  was  a herculean  task,  with  ten 
thousand  people  in  the  space  of  a small  city  block,  no 
sewer  system  and  sanitary  conveniences  most  inadequate. 
Several  streams,  of  water  in  narrow  stone  channels  flowed 
through  the  yards,  and  these  were  the  chief  sources  of 
water  for  drinking  and  washing  purposes.  Mothers  washed 
their  babies’  soiled  clothes  in  the  stream  and  the  next 
moment  gave  them  a drink  from  it.  Mr.  McDowell  was 
chief  sanitary  officer.  He  appointed  crews  for  the  yards 
and  rooms,  and  relays  of  patrol  along  the  streams,  but 
daily  vigilance  on  his  own  part  and  frequent  use  of  the 
“big  stick”  were  necessary.  He  also  superintended  the 
burial  of  the  dead,  and  for  over  four  months  the  deaths 
ranged  from  ten  to  thirty-nine  daily. 

At  the  Hospital-College  compound  we  had  only  3,000 
refugees,  but  they  filled  every  niche  and  cranny.  In  our 
own  house,  for  three  months,  we  had  twenty-four  people 
besides  our  own  family,  and  four  families  were  cooking 
their  meals  on  our  small,  four-hole  cook  stove.  It  speaks 
well  for  the  good  nature  of  our  own  cook  and  all  the  other 
cooks  that  there  was  never  the  sound  of  a quarrel. 

On  January  4th,  Dr.  Packard  went  out  to  meet  Karini 
Agha,  head  of  the  Mamush  Kurds  and  the  greatest  of  all 
the  Kurdish  chieftains,  who  was  approaching  the  city. 
This  man  had  sent  word  sometime  before  that  he  was 
coming  to  Urumia,  adding,  "I  am  not  Kurdu  Reg  nor 
Abdulah  Beg,  but  Karini  Agha,  at  whose  coming  the  moun- 
tains tremble.”  I suspect  that  the  mountains  kept  per- 
fectly calm,  but  certain  it  is  that  tha  people  trembled. 

8 


Dr.  Packard  went,  with  two  Syrian  and  two  Moslem  com- 
panions, hoping  to  negotiate  with  Karini  Agha  for  at  least 
limiting  the  amount  of  rapine  and  plunder  of  the  Christian 
villages,  but  they  did  not  see  Karini  Agha  that  day.  God 
had  other  work  for  the  doctor  to  do,  and  gave  him  the 
opportunity  to  save  the  lives  of  nearly  3,000  people 
in  the  village  of  Geotapa  and  surrounded  by  Kurds. 

It  was  almost  five  months  before  the  Russians  re- 
turned on  May  24th,  bringing  freedom  and  safety  to  the 
Christians.  The  story  of  those  months  is  one  of  long- 
drawn-out  agony  and  suspense.  The  crowding  of  the 
refugees  and  the  inadequate  food  we  wrere  able  to  give  them 
meant  inevitable  filth,  sickness  and  death,  and  before  relief 
came  nearly  four  thousand  had  died.  There  were  frequent 
times  of  terror  and  panic;  there  were  searchings,  by  night 
and  day,  of  our  own  houses  and  the  refugees  quarters,  by 
the  Turks.  There  was  always  before  our  eyes  the  search  for 
vermin  in  heads  and  garments,  and  we  missionaries,  too, 
had  to  prosecute  a similar  quest  all  too  frequently.  There 
were  smells  that  we  could  hardly  endure  every  way  we 
turned.  There  were  three  massacres,  in  each  of  which 
from  fifty  to  seventy  men  were  taken  out,  and,  with  their 
hands  tied  together,  shot  in  cold  blood.  Prominent  Chris- 
tian men  were  frequently  taken  and  held  for  enormous 
ransoms.  Our  money  gave  out,  and  we  were  compelled 
to  borrow  thousands  of  dollars  in  order  to  feed  the  multi- 
tude. After  some  weeks  the  missionaries  began  to  go 
down  with  the  typhus  and  typhoid  that  were  carrying 
off  so  many  of  the  poor  people.  Out  of  eighteen  adult 
missionaries,  thirteen  were  sick  and  three  of  them  died. 
It  seemed  as  though  we  were  indeed  walking,  or,  rather, 
dwelling  “in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,”  but  the 
Shepherd  walked  with  us ; and  if  at  times  we  felt  like 
saying  “All  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  have  gone  over 
me,”  we  could  always  add,  with  the  psalmist,  "yet  the 
Lord  will  Command  His  loving  kindness  in  the  day  time, 
and  in  the  night  His  song  shall  be  with  me,  and  my  prayer 
unto  the  God  of  my  life.” 

After  the  return  of  the  Russians,  every  effort  was  made 

V 


to  get  the  Christians  to  go  back  to  their  dismantled,  and 
in  many  cases  demolished,  homes.  The  relief  committee 
distributed  to  them  sickles,  scythes  and  spades,  and  also 
loaned  them  animals  for  agricultural  work.  By  the  begin- 
ning of  August  prospects  were  growing  brighter,  and  then 
a Turkish  drive  in  another  part  of  the  war  zone  forced 
the  Russians  to  evacuate  Urumia  the  second  time.  Again 
almost  the  whole  Christian  population  of  the  plain  fled, 
among  them  many  who  had  returned  with  the  Russians 
from  the  first  flight.  At  this  time  most  of  the  missionaries 
also  fled,  acting  on  the  advice  of  the  Russian  Consul  and 
our  own  Consul  in  Tabriz.  Our  own  family  and  Miss 
Burgess,  our  trained  nurse,  stayed  to  look  after  the  sick 
and  helpless  who  were  left  behind  in  the  hospital  com- 
pound. Mr.  McDowell  and  Mr.  Labaree  remained  in  the 
city  compound  to  look  after  the  property  and  about  two 
hundred  people  who  had  taken  refuge  there.  This  flight 
was  precipitated  by  what  proved  to  be  a false  alarm,  and 
within  a month  most  of  the  people  were  back  again, 
though  many  had  fallen  victims  to  cholera  and  the  hard- 
ships of  the  road.  They  had  hardly  become  settled  in 
their  twice-plundered  homes,  when  about  35,000  Syrians 
from  the  mountains  poured  down  upon  the  plains  of  Salmas 
and  Urumia.  These  people  had  fled  for  their  lives  after 
months  of  battling  with  the  Turks  and  Kurds,  hiding,  and 
often  starving,  in  mountain  fastnesses.  The  ruined  villages 
of  the  Urumia  district,  already  crowded,  had  to  give  shelter 
to  nearly  16,000  of  these  mountaineers.  The  problem  of 
relief  was  well-nigh  overwhelming. 

The  year  1916  and  eight  or  nine  months  of  1917  was 
a time  of  comparative  quiet,  when  the  usual  lines  of  mis- 
sionary work  were  carried  on,  and  in  addition  an  enormous 
amount  of  relief  work.  Heroic  efforts  were  made  to  keep 
up  the  food  supply  of  the  region  by  the  distribution  of 
seed  for  both  spring  and  fall  sowing.  There  were  frequent 
alarms,  and  the  question  of  possible  flight  was  often  con- 
sidered, but  tilings  went  on  fairly  quietly  until  the  Russian 
break-up  in  the  fall  of  1917. 

At  that  time  there  was  constant  talk  of  the  withdrawal 


10 


of  the  Russian  army,  and  the  question  was,  should  the 
Christian  population  go  with  the  Russians.  The  other 
alternative  was  to  arm  as  many  Syrians  and  Armenians 
as  possible,  with  the  hope  that  they  could  hold  out  until 
the  English  took  Mosul,  which  event,  it  was  believed,  would 
make  the  Christians  safe  in  their  own  homes.  This  latter 
course  was  advocated  by  Russian  officers,  many  of  whom 
offered  to  stay  in  Urumia  to  officer  the  newly  organized 
battalions  of  Syrians  and  Armenians;  also  by  a French 
officer,  who  had  been  sent  to  Urumia  by  an  Allied  staff 
which  had  taken  over  the  direction  of  the  military  affairs 
on  the  Caucasian  front  upon  the  disintegration  of  the  Rus- 
sians, and  finally  by  the  British  acting  political  officer  on 
that  front,  who  had  formulated  the  plan  to  keep  the  front 
closed  with  local  Christian  forces  after  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Russian  troops. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  people  decided  to  stay,  trust- 
ing to  the  promises  of  the  Allied  representatives;  and  right 
loyally  did  the  Christian  fighters  support  the  cause  of  the 
Allies.  They  were  a ragged  and  unkempt  army,  an  im- 
perfectly disciplined  force  of  irregulars,  but  they  were 
splendid  fighters,  and  in  fourteen  pitched  battles  against 
Persians,  Kurds  and  regular  Turkish  forces  they  were 
victorious  during  the  first  six  months  of  1918. 

During  January  of  that  year  the  older  boys  of  our 
college  gradually  left  school  and  entered  the  army,  and 
almost  all  of  the  Christian  men  from  sixteen  to  sixty  years 
of  age  were  armed.  They  were  drilled  by  Russian  and 
French  officers  and  armed  with  regulation  French  rifles, 
and  with  a few  rapid-firing  guns  and  Russian  cannon. 

The  Persians,  when  they  saw  the  Russian  forces  dis- 
integrating, thought  it  was  their  great  opportunity,  and 
they,  too,  began  to  arm  themselves.  Their  leaders  issued 
the  order  .that  every  Moslem  who  had  no  gun  should  sell 
his  wife  if  necessary  and  buy  one.  An  effort  was  made  by 
Dr.  Shedd  and  the  Russian  Consul,  M.  Nikitine,  to  have 
the  Persian  Government  organize  a gendarmerie,  composed 
of  Moslems  and  Christians,  to  keep  order;  but  this  and 
every  other  effort  to  harmonize  the  warring  elements  failed 

11 


of  accomplishment.  There  were  continual  clashes  in  which 
a few  Christians  or  Moslems  were  killed,  and  finally,  on 
February  22d,  general  shooting  throughout  the  city 
announced  that  a planned  battle  was  on  foot. 

It  afterwards  developed  that  the  Moslems  had  intended 
by  a concerted  attack  on  the  Christians,  at  a time  (5  o’clock 
in  the  afternoon)  when  most  of  the  fighters  were  out  in 
the  villages,  to  wipe  out  the  Christian  quarter  of  the  city, 
and  then  to  move  on  to  the  villages  one  by  one.  From  5 
P.  M.  until  midnight  the  battle  kept  up,  and  by  that  time 
Agha  Petrus  and  Malik  Khoshaba,  the  Syrian  leaders,  had 
control  of  a large  part  of  the  city,  and  there  was  a lull  for 
a few  hours.  In  the  morning  the  fighting  began  again  and 
continued  until  3 P.  M.,  when  a great  shouting  announced 
that  the  Christians  had  taken  the  Public  Square  (the 
arsenal  yard),  and  a white  flag  had  been  raised.  Then  a 
company  of  Mullahs,  with  flags  of  truce,  went  to  Mar 
Shimun,  the  Syrian  patriarch,  and  surrendered.  A few 
hundred  native  Christians  had  overcome  several  thousand 
Moslems,  and  less  than  a score  of  Christians  were  killed, 
while  more  than  600  Moslems  lost  their  lives. 

The  capitulation  was  a signal  for  a flight  of  Moslems 
and  Kurds  to  our  city  and  hospital  compounds  to  escape 
the  vengeance  they  feared  from  the  victorious  Christians. 
As  a matter  of  fact,  the  Christian  leaders  succeeded  in 
controlling  their  forces,  so  there  was  comparatively  little 
looting  or  murder.  One  man  who  was  caught  plundering 
was  led  through  the  streets  by  a chain  through  his  nose, 
with  his  face  blackened  and  wearing  a placard  saying  that 
all  looters  would  be  treated  in  a similar  fashion.  There 
were  many  disorders  in  the  villages,  however,  and  looting 
prompted  by  hunger  quite  as  much  as  by  a desire  for 
revenge. 

At  the  time  of  the  Moslem  effort  to  wipe  out  the  Chris- 
tians of  Urumia,  the  Christians  in  Khoi,  a three  days’ 
journey  to  the  north,  had  been  in  great  danger,  and  Dr. 
Packard  had  been  sent  to  try  to  bring  them  away  to  a 
place  of  greater  safety.  The  Khoi  Christians  had  been 
overpowered  and  disarmed  before  Dr.  Packard  got  there 

12 


and  were  held  as  hostages  by  the  Mohammedans  for  the 
good  behavior  of  the  Christians  of  Salmas  and  Urumia. 
There  were  3,300  of  these  Syrian  refugees,  besides  a resi- 
dent Armenian  population  of  1,600.  The  Governor  would 
not  permit  them  to  be  taken  away,  and  later  on  over  3,000 
of  them  were  massacred. 

On  March  18,  1918,  Mar  Shimun  was  treacherously 
killed  by  the  Kurdish  chief,  Ismail  Agha,  commonly  called 
Simko.  This  outrage  incited  the  Christians  to  terrible 
measures  of  revenge.  There  were  fights  in  Salmas  and 
Urumia  plains,  in  all  of  which  the  Christians  were  vic- 
torious. There  were  lootings  and  killings  all  about  us, 
so  that  our  Mission  compounds  were  the  only  safe  places 
for  Kurds  and  Moslems  of  all  classes  and  conditions.  For 
four  months  our  yards  were  crowded.  At  the  hospital 
compound  our  refugees  were  mostly  from  nearby  Moslem 
villages,  besides  many  Kurds.  Each  family  set  up  village 
life  on  a small  scale  on  its  own  little  spot,  and  the  family 
included  not  only  countless  children,  but  cows,  donkeys, 
sheep,  goats,  hens,  oxen,  horses  and  water  buffaloes  as 
well.  The  filth,  the  noises  and  the  smells  were  indescrib- 
able; patience  was  exhausted  and  bodies  wearied  in  the 
struggle  to  safeguard  our  streams  and  wells. 

The  thing  that  made  such  conditions  bearable  was  the 
evangelistic  opportunity  they  presented  us,  and  we  tried 
to  make  the  most  of  it  with  frequent  talks  and  meetings, 
using  the  baby  organ  and  the  Victrola  as  attractions. 

Early  in  the  year,  when  the  Persians  found  they  were 
no  match  for  the  Syrian  and  Armenian  forces,  they  invited 
the  Turks  and  Kurds  to  come  and  help  them.  In  the  spring, 
as  the  Turkish  armies  began  to  draw  near,  there  were 
anxious  days  and  endless  debates  about  flight.  There  were 
frequent  battles,  and  the  hospital  was  full  of  the  wounded. 
In  May,  sickness  among  the  missionaries  added  to  our 
anxieties.  On  June  6th,  during  a propitious  lull  in  hos- 
tilities, Paul  Ellis  was  born.  Thirteen  days  later  the 
Turks  again  drew  near,  and  all  day  we  could  hear  the 
rattle  of  machine  guns  and  an  occasional  boom  of  cannon. 

13 


Once  more  our  valiant  army  drove  the  Turks  back  and 
we  had  a few  days’  respite. 

None  of  us  are  likely  to  forget  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1918.  The  Turks  were  surrounding  us  on  all  sides,  and 
the  ammunition  of  the  Christians  was  getting  low.  The 
Christians  of  Salmas  had  fled  to  Urumia  some  weeks  before, 
and  thousands  were  on  the  verge  of  starvation.  As  the 
weather  grew  hotter,  sickness  increased,  and  the  sights 
and  smells  grew  to  be  unbearable.  It  was  anything  but 
a glorious  Fourth.  On  July  8th,  at  7 A.  M.,  we  were 
thrilled  to  see  a British  aeroplane  flying  above  us.  There 
was  first  fear  and  then  the  wildest  joy  when  it  was  seen 
that  it  was  not  an  enemy  plane.  It  flew  away  the  next 
day,  leaving  us  all  cheered  by  the  promise  of  another  visit 
and  of  help  from  the  British. 

Again  hope  was  deferred;  again  the  Turks  pressed  upon 
us  from  all  sides,  and  on  July  31st  flight  could  no  longer 
be  averted.  At  2 o’clock  in  the  morning  we  held  a station 
meeting  and  voted  that  all  the  missionaries  should  stay  at 
the  hospital  compound  except  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shedd,  who 
were  to  go  with  the  fleeing  people.  By  8 A.  M.  the  thou- 
sands— they  were  estimated  at  nearly  70,000  (including 
the  Armenian  refugees  who  had  fled  from  Van  in  Turkey, 
and  Armenians  and  Syrians  from  Salmas) — had  started 
on  their  way,  on  foot,  on  donkeys,  in  ox  carts  or  in  aban- 
doned Russian  Red  Cross  wagons.  By  9.30  we  heard  shots 
and  wild  shouting  from  the  neighboring  hills,  and  soon 
past  our  gates  rushed  the  Kurdish  horsemen.  Some  of 
them  stopped,  broke  in  our  side  gate,  killed  two  people 
and  made  a mad  rush  into  the  yard  and  then  into  the  Ellis 
house.  With  horrid  uproar  of  shouts,  pounding  and  shots 
they  entered,  looking  for  plunder,  stripping  the  ladies  of 
rings  and  other  jewelry  and  the  men  of  their  shoes.  They 
tried  to  carry  off  Mrs.  Richards,  and  were  only  prevented 
by  their  haste  to  get  away  before  the  arrival  of  the  Turkish 
regulars,  who  were  coming  on  their  heels. 

On  August  1st,  the  Turks  took  possession,  confiscated 
our  horses  and  cows,  and  established  their  sick  soldiers 
in  our  hospital,  turning  out  our  Christian  patients  to  lie 

14 


on  the  ground  or  in  the  cots  we  hastily  improvised  in  the 
rooms  of  the  college  buildings.  Four  days  later  Mrs. 
Pflaumer  and  Miss  Bridges,  of  the  American  Orphanage, 
came  to  us  with  about  fifty  orphans,  all  that  were  left  of 
their  family  of  one  hundred  and  five.  We  learned  then 
that  Mr.  Pflaumer  had  been  killed  the  day  the  Kurds  and 
Turks  entered,  as  he  and  Mrs.  Pflaumer  were  holding  Miss 
Bridges  to  save  her  from  a Kurd  who  was  trying  to  carry 
her  off. 

For  the  next  two  months  we  were  kept  prisoners  in 
our  own  homes,  and  the  enforced  idleness  after  months  of 
busy  activity  was  one  of  our  greatest  trials.  All  our  sup- 
plies were  confiscated  by  the  Turks,  who  doled  out  a mere 
pittance  for  our  orphans  and  sick  people.  Our  own  babies 
were  sick,  and  Mrs.  Ellis  and  I had  to  steal  condensed 
milk  from  our  own  supply  in  the  hospital,  carrying  it  under 
our  big  aprons  before  the  very  eyes  of  the  Turkish  offi- 
cers. Soon  we  all  became  infected  with  a very  vicious 
form  of  malaria,  which  was  brought  to  us  by  the  Turks, 
and  every  day  from  2 or  3 to  a dozen  of  us  were  down  with 
chills  and  fever.  Our  servants,  too,  all  took  their  turn, 
while  among  the  refugees  typhus,  smallpox,  dysentery  and 
malaria  all  claimed  their  victims.  Many  died  from  fright 
and  from  the  lack  of  any  incentive  to  get  well.  Miss 
Sehoebel,  after  a sickness  of  ten  days,  died  of  pernicious 
malaria  on  September  28th.  These  were  dark  days,  in- 
deed, but  always  there  was  light  in  our  dwellings.  We 
we're  all  blessed  with  a large  sense  of  humor,  and  merri- 
ment and  fun-making,  as  well  as  hymn  singing  and  prayers, 
helped  us  over  many  a hard  place.  The  Victrola  was  an 
untold  blessing,  for  Turkish  guards,  patroling  in  front  of 
our  houses,  could  not  prevent  us  from  enjoying  the  great 
musical  artists  of  the  world,  and  often  I was  uplifted  as 
I played  on  my  piano  some  such  glorious  thing  as  “Be 
not  afraid,  saith  God  the  Lord”  from  the  “Elijah.”  “Life 
is  more  than  meat,”  indeed,  “for  which,”  a friend  once 
said,  “we  should  be  thankful,  at  its  present  price.” 

On  October  8th  we  were  deported  by  the  Turks  on 
three  hours’  notice,  and  five  days  later  we  reached  Tabriz. 

15 


Here  we  were  kept  under  guard  until  October  22d,  when 
our  guards  told  us  we  were  free  to  go  where  we  pleased, 
though  no  trial  of  any  kind  had  been  held.  That  same 
day  Dr.  Vanneman  and  Mr.  Jessup,  of  the  Tabriz  Sta- 
tion, were  set  free,  after  having  been  confined  in  one  room 
for  forty-four  days. 

Meanwhile,  in  Tabriz,  the  work,  in  spite  of  complex 
and  dangerous  political  conditions,  and  unrest  and  fear 
among  the  people,  had  been  going  on  in  a very  encourag- 
ing way.  There  had  been  much  misinterpretation  of  the 
Urumia  situation,  and  charges  that  the  Urumia  mission- 
aries had  encouraged  the  Syrians  to  fight  against  the 
Persian  Government.  German  and  Turkish  influences  had 
been  at  work  in  Tabriz  for  some  time  past,  and  frequent 
newspaper  articles  had  been  published  against  the  Ameri- 
cans. Intrigues  had  been  carried  on,  not  only  by  German 
and  Turkish  agents,  but  also  by  the  growing  number  of 
so-called  Persian  Democrats.  The  advance  of  the  Turks 
caused  a scattering,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  work 
of  the  schools  was  carried  on.  The  graduation  exercises 
of  the  Boys’  School,  however,  were  held  at  the  usual  time, 
and  on  that  very  day  150  Turks  entered  the  city. 

All  the  Europeans,  including  the  Consuls,  were  on  the 
point  of  leaving,  and  it  was  decided  that  all  the  mission- 
aries must  go  with  them  except  Dr.  Vanneman  and  Mr. 
Jessup  and  Mr.  Rieben,  who  was  the  Swiss  teacher  of 
French  in  the  Boys’  School.  On  June  10th,  a long  cara- 
van, bearing  people  of  fourteen  nationalities,  started  out 
on  a twenty  days’  overland  journey,  “a  motley  proces- 
sion of  covered  wagons,  carts,  horsemen,  camels  and 
donkeys  escorted  by  a force  of  British  Cossacks  and  two 
machine  guns.”  Accidents  were  frequent  and  danger  of 
attack  threatened,  but  they  all  reached  Kazvin  safely. 
Some  of  the  missionaries  remained  in  Kazvin,  some  went 
to  Plamadan  and  Teheran. 

In  the  meantime,  Dr.  Vanneman  and  Mr.  Jessup  were 
closely  confined  by  the  Turks,  who  used  every  means  to 
find  out  from  Dr.  Vanneman,  Treasurer  of  the  Mission, 
where  the  relief  mone)'  had  been  deposited.  The  last  three 

16 


weeks  they  saw  no  one  but  their  jailors,  the  armed  sen- 
tinels who  were  changed  every  hour.  Mr.  Rieben  had 
fortunately  not  been  arrested,  and  he,  with  the  help  of 
the  Spanish  Consul,  had  been  able  to  safeguard  some  of 
the  Mission  properties  and  possessions.  The  buildings, 
however,  had  been  occupied  by  the  Turks,  and  all  showed 
signs  of  bad  treatment.  Those  in  the  hospital  compound 
were  entirely  looted  and  very  much  injured. 

The  last  of  the  Turks  left  Tabriz  on  November  5th, 
but  it  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1919  that  the  bulk  of 
the  missionaries  were  able  to  get  back  to  Tabriz.  While 
in  East  Persia,  they  were  all  busy  helping  in  missionary 
and  relief  work. 

The  thousands  who  fled  from  Urumia  on  July  31,  1918, 
endured  sufferings  beyond  any  pen  to  depict.  Six  times 
they  were  attacked  by  small  Turkish  forces  and  by  Persian 
enemies  along  the  way.  Food  was  scarce  and  water  much 
of  the  way  unobtainable.  Dysentery  and  cholera  carried 
off  thousands,  and  others  fell  from  exhaustion  and  died 
by  the  way.  Our  Mission  sustained  an  irreparable  loss  in 
the  death  of  Dr.  Shedd.  Through  months  past  he  had 
given  his  life  and  strength  without  stint  to  the  people  who 
pressed  upon  him  for  advice  and  help  of  every  sort,  and 
in  the  hours  of  that  flight  he  had  led  and  encouraged  them 
so  that  he  had  no  physical  strength  to  resist  the  dreaded 
cholera  when  he  was  attacked  on  the  sixth  day  of  the 
journey. 

The  mass  of  the  refugees  were  settled  by  the  British 
in  great  camps  at  Bakuba,  while  a few  thousands  remained 
in  Hamadan,  or  made  their  way  back  to  Tabriz.  The 
Urumia  missionaries  remained  in  Tabriz  through  the  winter 
of  1918  and  1919  helping  that  undermanned  station. 

In  the  spring,  however,  it  seemed  advisable  to  reopen 
the  work  in  Urumia,  where  870  Christian  refugees  were 
gathered  in  our  main  city  compound  under  the  care  of 
Mrs.  Judith  David.  She  had  at  first  borrowed  money  to 
feed  these  people  and  buy  them  a few  of  the  necessities 
of  life,  and  later  we  were  able  to  send  her  relief  funds 
from  Tabriz.  The  local  authorities  and  the  Governor  of 


17 


the  province  gave  us  confident  assurances  of  safety,  and 
so  on  May  2,  1919,  the  Packard  family  started  for  Urumia, 
leaving  the  rest  of  the  missionaries  to  follow  in  a couple 
of  weeks.  The  buildings  were  all  in  such  bad  condition 
after  their  occupation  by  the  Turks  that  it  seemed  best 
for  one  family  to  go  over  first  to  put  the  houses  and  the 
hospital  in  usable  condition.  We  reached  Urumia  on  May 
4th  and  received  a pathetically  glad  welcome  from  the 
870  refugees.  Dr.  Packard,  with  the  help  of  Rev.  Jacob 
David,  began  to  organize  relief  work  for  Jews,  Moslems 
and  Kurds,  as  well  as  for  the  Christians,  and  I was  busy 
bringing  order  out  of  the  mess  in  our  two  Mission  houses 
and  at  the  hospital,  out  at  the  compound  two  miles  out- 
side of  the  city.  We  were  almost  never  so  tired  or  so 
happy  in  our  lives  as  we  were  those  three  weeks  in  our 
home  after  months  of  exile;  and  then,  on  May  24th,  the 
blow  fell  that  put  an  end  to  all  our  happy  plannings. 

There  had  been  growing  hostilities  between  the  Mos- 
lems of  Urumia  and  the  Kurds  who  had  come  down  from 
the  mountains  and  wrought  havoc  all  over  the  fair  plain. 
On  different  occasions  there  had  been  fights  between  small 
companies  of  them,  and  the  feeling  had  grown  intense; 
and  then  the  good  Governor,  who  had  kept  things  going 
on  an  even  keel,  was  recalled  and  an  old-time  Persian  from 
Teheran  was  sent  to  take  his  place.  He  knew  nothing  of 
Urumia  conditions  and  nothing  of  Kurds,  and  he  very  soon 
precipitated  trouble.  Another  cause  for  trouble  was  the 
sending  of  a bomb  to  the  Kurdish  chieftain,  Simko,  in  a 
box  that  was  labeled  “Sweetmeats.”  It  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  this  bomb  was  sent  by  Persian  officials.  When 
the  box  was  opened,  seven  Kurds  were  killed  by  the  explo- 
sion, among  them  a brother  of  Simko. 

On  May  24th  occurred  a battle  between  the  Kurds  and 
the  Persians,  in  which  the  former  were  driven  out  of  the 
city;  and  then  the  Persian  mob,  their  blood  being  roused, 
turned  upon  the  defenseless  Christians  in  the  American 
Mission  yard.  They  killed  two  hundred  and  seventy  of 
them  and  wounded  one  hundred  others.  They  stripped 
many  of  the  women  and  looted  everything  on  the  place, 

18 


including  more  than  $50,000  worth  of  relief  stores.  For 
twenty-four  days  our  family,  with  the  six  hundred  refugees 
who  escaped,  were  captives  in  the  Governor’s  yard,  and, 
in  the  meantime,  the  hospital  and  our  homes  were  being 
stripped  of  everything  in  them  by  a mob  of  Persian  looters. 
We  were  finally  taken  out  on  June  17th  by  our  Consul  from 
Tabriz,  Mr.  Gordon  Paddock.  Mr.  Paddock,  wThen  after 
many  days  a message  had  finally  reached  him  telling  him 
of  our  plight,  organized  a rescue  party,  and,  after  nine 
days  of  dangerous  travel  through  Kurdish  country,  in  which 
they  had  many  narrow  escapes,  he,  Mr.  Mueller  and  Dr. 
Dodd  reached  Urumia  on  June  15th.  It  was  with  the  great- 
est difficulty  and  danger  that  he  succeeded  in  getting  us  all 
out  and  safely  transported  to  Tabriz.  This  tragedy  of 
May  and  June,  1919,  though  occurring  six  months  after 
the  Armistice,  must  be  considered  as  one  of  our  war-time 
experiences.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  the  last  one ! 

Among  the  stations  of  East  Persia,  Hamadan  was  the 
most  affected  by  the  war.  Like  Urumia,  it  lay  in  the  track 
of  contending  armies,  and  was  repeatedly  occupied  and 
evacuated  by  both  Russians  and  Turks.  It  was  finally 
occupied  by  the  British.  In  all  the  stations  of  the  Persia 
Missions,  the  war  brought  extra  burdens,  with  added  diffi- 
culties in  carrying  on  the  regular  work,  and  in  addition 
an  enormous  load  of  relief  distribution. 


Chapter  II 

THE  MINGLING  OF  MANY  NATIONS 

PERSIA  is  a Bible  land,  and  many  of  its  people  are 
survivors  of  the  races  who  dwelt  there  in  Bible  times. 
It  lies  between  Afghanistan  and  the  old  Turkish  Empire, 
and  between  British  India  and  Russia,  on  the  highway  be- 
tween Europe  and  Asia.  It  is  a most  out-of-the-way  place, 
and  few  travelers  ever  visit  it.  This  isolation  must  con- 


19 


tinue  until  railways  are  built.  A war  measure  of  Russia, 
to  defend  the  Caucasus  front  against  the  Turks,  projected 
a railroad  into  the  city  of  Tabriz,  with  a branch  to  the 
northern  end  of  Lake  Urumia.  This  Transcaucasian  rail- 
way is  now  in  the  hands  of  four  different  countries,  Persia, 
Armenia,  Georgia  and  the  Republic  of  Azerbaijan.  Its 
former  efficiency  under  the  Russians  has  departed  and 
may  perhaps  never  be  restored  unless  Russia  is  rehabili- 
tated and  assumes  control  again.  Before  the  war  the  in- 
crease of  Russia’s  commercial  interests  in  Persia  demanded 
better  roads  than  Persia  possessed,  and  a macadamized 
road  was  built  by  the  Russians  from  Resht  on  the  Caspian 
Sea  to  Teheran,  and  a branch  from  Kasvin  to  Hamadan. 

Modern  Persia  is  only  a fraction  of  the  ancient  empire. 
It  is  now  only  900  miles  from  east  to  west  and  700  miles 
from  north  to  south.  It  contains  628,000  square  miles, 
and  is  more  than  three  times  as  large  as  France,  while  its 
population  is  only  one-quarter  that  of  France.  Persia  is 
partly  a desert  and  much  of  it  is  only  sparsely  settled. 
Along  the  western  border,  however,  and  on  the  shores  of 
the  Caspian  Sea,  it  is  exceedingly  fertile.  The  basin  of 
Lake  Urumia  is  the  garden  spot  of  Persia.  There  the 
climate  is  fine,  the  soil  fertile  and  the  region  well  watered. 
The  climate  in  the  lowlands  bordering  the  Caspian  Sea  is 
semi-tropical.  Along  the  Persian  Gulf  the  country  is  low 
and  sandy  and  very  hot.  Elsewhere  Persia  is  an  enormous 
plateau,  with  pure,  bracing  air.  There  are  many  moun- 
tains in  Persia,  and  between  them  beautiful  valleys.  In 
the  central  and  south  central  part  are  extensive  salt  deserts. 
Lake  Urumia  is  a great  salt  lake,  over  80  miles  long  and 
about  30  wide,  the  densest  body  of  water  on  the  planet. 

The  Government  of  Persia  is  a constitutional  monarchy, 
but  the  Parliament  exercises  little  influence,  and  its  dis- 
missal has  frequently  followed  very  shortly  after  its  first 
sitting.  The  ignorance  of  the  people  and  the  influence 
of  the  land-owners  make  a farce  of  elections.  The  present 
Kajar  Dynasty,  from  a tribe  of  conquering  Turks,  came 
into  power  about  1790  A.  D.  For  corruption  and  ineffi- 

20 


ciency,  this  Government  is  rated  by  European  travelers 
as  one  of  the  worst  in  the  world. 

Migrations  and  invasions  have  been  the  cause  of  an 
astonishing  mixture  of  races  in  modern  Persia.  An  esti- 
mated population  of  9,500,000  before  the  war  has  been 
greatly  reduced  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  war.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  population  are  Aryans.  These  include  Per- 
sians in  the  south,  Kurds  in  the  northwest,  Lurs  and 
Bakhtiaris  in  the  west  and  southwest,  and  Armenians  in 
the  northwest  province,  in  Teheran  and  Isphahan.  Semites 
make  up  a small  portion  of  the  population.  Of  these  the 
Syrians  live  in  the  extreme  northwest,  while  Jews  are 
scattered  sparsely  but  widely  through  the  country.  Three 
hundred  and  fifty  Arabs  live  in  the  south  of  Persia.  There 
are  2,500,000  Turks  living  chiefly  in  the  northwest.  One- 
quarter  of  the  inhabitants  are  Nomads,  or  wandering  tribes 
of  semi-Nomads,  over  whom  the  Government  has  little 
control.  There  are  only  two  cities  of  over  200,000  popula- 
tion, Tabriz  and  Teheran.  The  majority  of  the  people 
live  in  villages  of  from  50  to  1,000  or  more  inhabitants. 

Persia  is  a polyglot  land.  The  national  and  literary 
language  is  Persian ; the  religious  language  is  Arabic. 
Turkish  is  most  generally  spoken  in  northwest  Persia. 
Kurdish,  Syriac  and  Armenian  are  also  used. 

The  peasants  and  Nomads  are  physically  vigorous,  but 
the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  are  weaker,  and  the  wealthy 
tend  to  degeneracy  and  effeminacy.  Persians  are  quick 
of  perception,  fond  of  discussion,  imaginative,  with  good 
memories,  and  show  great  aptitude  for  religious  and  phil- 
osophical speculation.  Some  Persians  are  tall,  but  the 
majority  are  of  medium  stature.  They  have  regular  fea- 
tures, dark  complexions,  black  hair  and  eyes.  Though 
courtly  and  polite,  luxurious  in  taste  and  fond  of  dress, 
many  are  nevertheless  able  to  endure  great  hardships. 
They  live  much  in  the  open  air  and  delight  in  horses  and 
the  chase.  The  nation  has  produced  some  great  poets  and 
is  full  of  poetry  lovers. 

The  mass  of  the  people  are  attached  to  the  soil  and 
are  transferred  with  it  from  one  great  land-owner  to  an- 

21 


other.  Pitiless  exactions  are  frequent.  The  masters  fur- 
nish seed,  and  the  subjects  till  the  soil,  supplying  animals 
and  implements,  while  the  master  takes  two-thirds  of  the 
crop  and  his  overseer  makes  further  levies  on  the  subject. 
The  subject  must  also  pay  his  taxes  and  feed  the  servants 
of  the  master  who  are  sent  to  divide  the  crops. 

The  Assyrians  live  in  northwest  Persia  and  in  the 
mountains  of  Kurdistan  within  the  old  Turkish  Empire. 
These  people  are  the  remnant  of  a once  widespread  Chris- 
tian Church.  They  had  famous  schools  in  Edessa  and 
other  places.  They  were  favored  by  Haroun  A1  Rashid 
and  held  positions  of  honor  at  his  court.  Under  Hulakhu 
Khan,  grandson  of  Ghenghiz  Khan,  they  were  in  great 
favor  and  had  a most  flourishing  school  in  Maragha.  Until 
the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  this  church  prospered 
with  only  an  occasional  persecution.  Tamerlane,  with  his 
victorious  Kurds,  came  out  of  the  Central  Asian  plateau 
and  devastated  the  lands  occupied  by  this  early  church. 
Later  the  fanatic  zeal  of  the  Mohammedans  all  but  ex- 
terminated the  Christian  faith  in  Persia  and  drove  the 
remnant  of  Christians  to  seek  refuge  in  the  inaccessible 
fastnesses  of  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan.  Here  most  of 
them  have  lived  for  more  than  four  centuries,  and  here  the 
patriarch  Mar  Shimun  is  recognized  as  their  religious  and 
political  head.  Some  ventured  down  to  the  plain  of  Mosul 
and  have  become  Catholics,  while  others  descended  to  the 
plains  of  Persia,  where  many  have  become  Russian  Ortho- 
dox Christians ; a few,  Catholics ; and  several  thousands 
have  become  a flourishing  Protestant  Church,  called  the 
Syrian  Evangelical  Church. 

There  are  70,000  Armenians  in  Persia.  They  are  a 
people  of  pure  morals,  save  those  who  have  been  long  in 
Russia,  and  are  great  lovers  of  their  homes  and  families. 
They  are  characterized  by  a spirit  of  clannishness  and 
great  pride  of  race  and  faith.  They  are  very  industrious 
and  have  great  ability.  Commercial^'  they  are  the  most 
enterprising  people  in  Persia. 

Between  Mesopotamia  and  Central  Persia  20,000  Jews, 
the  remnant  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  captivities. 

22 


are  scattered  in  many  cities  and  towns.  In  some  places 
they  are  farmers,  but  most  of  them  are  tradesmen. 


Chapter  III 

THE  OLD  RELIGIONS  IN  A NEW  DAY 

THE  social  and  moral  conditions  of  a country  can 
rightly  be  understood  only  when  the  religion  of  that 
country  has  been  studied.  The  ancient  religion  of  Persia 
was  the  faith  of  Zoroaster.  This  faith,  if  we  may  judge 
by  the  spirit  of  its  earliest  hymns  and  its  oldest  religious 
monuments,  was  the  worship  of  One  True  God.  This  early 
religion  gradually  degenerated  into  the  worship  of  fire  and 
the  heavenly  bodies,  and  was  corrupted  by  the  additions 
of  the  occult  sciences  of  the  Magi  and  the  corrupt  mysteries 
of  Babylon,  so  that  in  the  time  of  Cyrus  and  Queen  Esther 
the  religion  of  Persia  was  a mixture  of  idolatry  with  the 
worship  of  the  True  God  of  Heaven;  yet  withal,  it  was 
doubtless  the  purest  in  the  world  after  that  of  the  Hebrews. 
This  is  perhaps  the  reason  why  God  used  Cyrus  and  the 
Persians  as  instruments  to  restore  His  people  and  rebuild 
His  temple.  This  religion  survives  today  in  Kirman  and 
Yezd,  the  only  places  where  perpetual  fires  are  still  kept 
burning.  There  are  perhaps  10,000  worshippers  in  these 
two  places  and  in  smaller  groups  throughout  Persia. 

In  the  seventh  century  the  faith  of  the  “Camel  Driver 
of  Mecca”  was  forced  upon  the  Persian  Emperor  and  his 
people  by  “the  fiery  hordes  of  Arabia,”  and  for  more  than 
1,000  years  “Mohammed  has  swayed  and  cursed  the  mil- 
lions of  Persia.”  There  are  two  great  sects  in  Islam,  the 
Sunnis,  or  orthodox,  and  the  Shiahs,  or  heterodox  Mos- 
lems. The  latter  are  partisans  of  Ali,  the  son-in-law  and 
nephew  of  the  prophet,  and  his  two  sons,  Hassan  and  Hus- 
sein. These  they  hold  to  be  the  rightful  successors  of 
Mohammed  instead  of  Abubekr,  Omar  and  Osman,  who 

23 


were  the  Caliphs  recognized  by  Orthodox  Moslems.  The 
Shiah  faith  is  held  chiefly  in  Persia.  The  Persians  are 
most  fanatical  in  their  devotion  to  the  house  of  Ali,  and 
have  incorporated  his  name  in  their  regular  call  to  prayer, 
saying,  "Mohammed  is  the  Prophet  of  God,  Ali  is  the  Vicar 
of  God.”  Once  every  year,  the  month  of  Moharrem,  or 
mourning,  commemorates  the  deaths  of  Hassan  and  Hus- 
sein. The  latter  of  these  was  cruelly  slain  with  his  fol- 
lowers on  the  battlefield  of  Kerbola,  which  has  ever  since 
that  time  been  held  sacred  by  the  Shiah  Mohammedans. 
For  the  first  nine  days  of  Moharrem  the  people  assemble 
in  their  Mosque  and  listen  to  the  story  of  the  tragedy  re- 
cited by  their  priests,  and  travel  about  the  streets  beating 
their  breasts  and  calling  out  the  names  of  Hassan  and 
Hussein.  On  the  tenth  day  occurs  what  has  been  called 
the  “Persian  Passion  Play.”  From  every  Mosque  in  the 
city  processions  parade  the  streets,  companies  of  men  and 
boys  repeating  the  various  events  of  the  battle  of  Kerbola ; 
some  leading  riderless  horses ; some  bearing  a litter  with 
a red-stained  dummy  on  it  to  represent  the  corpse  of  Hus- 
sein; some  dressed  like  captive  women  and  girls  being 
driven  along  with  whips  by  their  mail-clad  captors ; and 
always,  with  every  company,  a band  of  white-sbirted  men 
cutting  their  heads  with  swords,  and  others  with  naked 
trunks  beating  their  backs  with  chain-whips,  and  others 
with  padlocks  locked  through  the  flesh  of  their  chests. 
The  processions  from  all  quarters  of  the  city  converge  to 
the  Public  Square,  where  the  Governor  reviews  them. 
Here  their  frenzy  increases  until  many  have  to  be  de- 
prived of  their  swords  to  keep  them  from  seriously  injur- 
ing themselves.  The  streets  throughout  the  city  are 
thronged  with  pious  spectators,  who  cry  and  beat  their 
breasts,  or  sprinkle  dust  and  chaff  upon  their  heads.  This 
celebration  is  of  rather  recent  development,  having  come 
into  practice  not  much  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago. 
Some  of  the  missionaries  maintain  that  it  should  be  con- 
sidered an  encouraging  sign  as  indicating  a decadent  Islam. 

There  are  many  sects  within  the  main  divisions  of  Shiah 
Mohammedanism,  most  notably  the  Ali  Illahis,  and  Babis 

24 


or  Bahais ; because  of  this  they  may  be  considered  the  weak 
point  of  Islam.  There  are  some  Sunni  Mohammedans  in 
Persia  among  the  Turkish-speaking  population  of  Azer- 
baijan, and  the  Kurds  along  the  Turko-Pcrsian  border  are 
all  of  that  sect. 

Some  one  has  well  said,  “In  Persia,  as  elsewhere,  Mo- 
hammedanism has  proved  a barrier  to  progress  and  has 
resulted  in  a very  low  moral  condition.  Probably  nowhere 
in  the  world  has  deceit  been  more  nearly  universal,  the 
state  of  the  family  and  woman  more  degraded,  and  the 
ruins  of  past  achievement  more  manifest  than  in  Persia.’’ 

There  are  two  Christian  sects  represented  in  Persia, 
the  Assyrian  or  Nestorian  and  the  Armenian.  Both  of 
these  ancient  churches  have  held  to  their  faith  through 
much  persecution  and  trial,  and  this,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  their  religion  for  centuries  has  been  a purely  formal 
one,  a keeping  of  fasts  and  occasional  reading  of  ritual  in 
an  ancient  language  which  the  mass  of  the  people  do  not 
understand.  It  is  touching  to  see  how  they  have  stood 
firm  and  suffered  for  their  faith  that  was  hardly  more 
than  a name,  but  that  name  was  the  name  of  Christ,  and 
even  in  their  dense  ignorance  and  darkness  they  have  held 
that  name  as  their  most  precious  possession,  dearer  than 
life  itself.  We,  who  live  in  a land  of  comfort  and  en- 
lightenment, may  well  ask  ourselves  whether  Christ  is  as 
precious  to  us  as  he  has  been  to  His  suffering  followers 
in  the  land  of  persecution  and  darkness. 

The  Assyrians  of  Kurdistan  and  West  Persia  are  the 
remnants  of  one  of  the  oldest  Christian  churches.  They 
hold  the  tradition  that  their  ancestors  accepted  the  gospel 
as  preached  to  them  by  the  Apostle  Thomas  in  the  first 
century.  The  name  Nestorian  was  given  to  them  because 
they  followed  Nestorius,  a Bishop  of  Constantinople,  who 
was  condemned  as  a heretic  in  A.  D.  431.  His  heresy 
consisted  of  certain  opinions  regarding  the  person  of 
Christ,  which  were  not  generally  acceptable  to  the  church 
of  that  day.  The  Assyrians  themselves  reject  the  name 
Nestorian,  but  still  it  clings  to  them.  “The  growth  of 
this  early  Assyrian  church,”  says  one,  “is  one  of  the  bright- 

25 


est  and  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  annals  of  Chris- 
tianity. By  its  wonderful  missionary  enterprises,  churches 
were  planted  from  Egypt  to  China  and  from  north  of  the 
Caspian  Sea  to  the  southern  boundaries  of  India.”  The 
story  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Assyrians  has  been  out- 
lined in  a previous  chapter.  They  have  always  been,  as 
their  Moslem  neighbors  bear  witness,  “a  people  of  the 
Book.”  They  have  clung  tenaciously  to  their  Bibles,  even 
though  the  masses  of  the  people  are  too  ignorant  to  read 
for  themselves.  Those  who  have  learned  to  read  have 
often  had  to  share  one  copy  of  the  Bible  with  many  others, 
and  many  a boy  from  the  mountains,  when  he  came  down 
to  Urumia  college,  could  read  only  when  the  book  was 
upside  down,  because  he  had  been  one  of  a circle  around 
a single  Bible  and  his  place  had  always  been  at  the  top 
of  the  book.  For  thousands  of  these  ignorant  Christians 
religion  consists  in  keeping  rigidly  two  fasts  each  year, 
and  except  for  this  their  lives  are  very  little  different  from 
those  of  their  Kurdish  neighbors.  It  should,  however,  be 
said  that  the  standard  of  family  life  has  remained  astonish- 
ingly pure  through  the  centuries  of  contact  with  Islam. 

The  Armenians,  like  the  Assyrians,  are  a people  of 
pure  morals  and  are  even  more  intense  in  their  pride  of 
race  and  religious  history.  They  also  are  ignorant  and 
superstitious,  and  are  absolutely  under  the  control  of  their 
priests,  a class  bigoted  and  overbearing  to  the  last  degree, 
and  all  too  often  as  ignorant  as  the  masses  whom  they 
mislead.  They  are  more  self-assertive  and  forth-putting 
than  the  Assyrians,  and  in  recent  years  they  have  done 
much  to  establish  schools  for  themselves.  Theologically 
they  differ  from  the  Assyrians  in  that  they  permit  the 
adoration  of  saints  and  the  worship  of  images  and  believe 
in  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  all  of  which  things 
are  abhorrent  to  the  Nestorians. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  these  old  Christian 
faiths  have  not  been  a great  force  in  influencing  Moham- 
medanism. They  have  had  the  strength  that  has  enabled 
them  to  keep  themselves  separate,  and  to  die  if  need  be 
rather  than  accept  Islam,  but  they  have  lacked  the  en- 

26 


lightenment  that  would  enable  them  to  teach  their  Moslem 
neighbors,  and  they  have  lacked  the  love  that  would  make 
them  desire  to  help  their  enemies.  A great  change  in  these 
two  respects  has  already  been  wrought  by  the  years  of 
missionary  work  among  them,  as  will  be  shown  in  a later 
chapter,  and  there  are  many  signs  that  a still  greater 
advance  wrill  be  seen  in  the  next  few  years  if  the  people 
can  be  restored  to  their  homes  and  once  more  dwell  near 
their  Moslem  neighbors. 

One  other  religion  remains  to  be  mentioned,  namely, 
that  of  the  Jews.  More  than  a mention  is  not  necessary, 
for  a Jew  is  a Jew  wherever  found,  and  the  problem  of 
converting  him  is  not  very  different  in  Persia  than  in 
other  lands.  It  should  be  said  that  quite  a number  of 
Persian  Jews  have  accepted  Christ,  especially  in  East 
Persia,  and  we  believe  that  they,  like  the  other  races  in 
Persia,  will  be  still  more  accessible  after  the  recent  years 
of  suffering. 


HE  home  life  of  Persia  is  not  very  different  from 


that  of  Turkey  or  any  other  Moslem  country.  The 
worst  evils  of  the  social  system  are  not  in  spite  of,  but 
the  result  of,  the  religions  of  the  country,  but  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  women  of  Persia,  as  a whole,  are  less 
enlightened  than  even  their  Moslem  sisters  of  Turkey. 
Their  very  dress  is  significant.  In  Turkey  the  women,  to 
a great  extent,  have  cast  aside  the  veil,  but  in  Persia  the 
Moslem  woman  still  walks  about  enveloped  in  the  hideous 
black  chuddar,  which  does  not  allow  a glimpse  of  her  face 
to  be  seen,  nor  a breath  of  air  to  reach  the  poor  soul 
wrapped  up  in  it.  In  Teheran  some  of  the  more  advanced 
Persian  ladies  appear  on  the  street  in  European  cos- 


Chapter  IV 

HOME  LIFE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


27 


tumes,  but  in  Northwest  Persia  no  one  is  yet  bold  enough 
to  discard  the  chuddar.  In  East  Persia  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy  among  women  is  doubtless  much  lower  than 
in  Azerbaijan,  but  in  the  latter  province,  outside  of  the 
Christian  women,  not  more  than  two  or  three  in  a thou- 
sand can  read  and  write.  Among  the  Kurds,  the  illiteracy 
of  women  is  still  greater,  though  in  the  matter  of  dress 
they  are  better  off  than  their  Persian  sisters.  They 
go  unveiled  and  are  in  every  way  freer  than  the  Persian 
Mohammedan  women.  The  wife  of  a Kurdish  Sheikh  was 
once  a patient  in  our  hospital  in  Urumia,  and,  while  she 
was  there,  I called  upon  her  several  times.  A man  servant 
interpreted  for  us,  as  she  knew  no  Turkish,  and  I knew  no 
Kurdish.  There  was  a woman  with  her  who  seemed  of 
a higher  rank  than  the  other  servants,  and  I noticed  that 
they  all  called  her  “Shatawn  Khanum,”  which  means  Lady 
Satan.  Finally  I asked  the  interpreter  why  she  was  called 
Lady  Satan,  if  it  was  because  she  was  so  much  worse  than 
the  rest  of  them.  “Oh,  no,”  he  answered,  “she  is  not  bad 
at  all,  only  she  is  as  clever  as  the  devil  himself ; she  is  the 
only  woman  in  Kurdistan  who  knows  how  to  read  and 
write,  and  she  is  secretary  for  the  Sheikh’s  wife. 

Persian  houses  are  flat-roofed  and  built  usually  of  sun- 
dried  brick  or  adobe,  except  the  houses  of  the  wealthy, 
which  are  faced  with  burnt  brick.  Poor  people  and  vil- 
lagers usually  have  but  one  room,  -with  mud  floor,  and  no 
furniture  except  a few  rolls  of  bedding,  spread  out  at 
night,  and  tied  up  in  a calico  cover  and  turned  up  against 
the  wall  by  day,  a few  cooking  utensils  and  dishes,  a 
samovar  and  a kursee.  The  kursee  is  the  common  furnace 
of  houses  of  all  grades.  It  consists  of  a wooden  frame, 
standing  eighteen  inches  high,  and  is  sometimes  three  or 
four  feet  square — sometimes  as  much  as  two  yards  square. 
It  is  placed  over  a hole  in  the  ground,  in  which  glowing 
charcoal  is  kept,  and  is  covered  with  a thick  comforter, 
which  is  frequently  more  than  five  yards  square.  The 
family  sit  about  the  kursee,  with  their  feet  underneath  it 
and  the  comforter  drawn  up  around  their  waists. 

The  kursee  is  one  of  Persia’s  best  breeders  of  disease. 


28 


One  cannot  but  fear,  when  invited  to  sit  under  the  com- 
forter, that  some  child  sick  with  scabies,  scarlet  fever  or 
smallpox  has  recently  been  tucked  up  in  its  folds.  It  is 
not  unusual  for  a child  to  be  so  closely  wrapped  under  the 
comforter  that  he  is  suffocated  to  death  from  the  charcoal 
fumes  that  come  from  the  fire. 

In  villages  and  homes  of  the  poor  in  the  city,  the  hole 
under  the  kursee  is  very  deep  and  is  called  a tandoor.  It 
is  both  oven  and  cook  stove  for  the  family.  Boiling  pots 
are  suspended  over  the  coals  at  the  bottom,  and  when 
bread  is  baked  it  is  slapped  across  the  sides  of  the  tandoor. 
Bread  baking  is  done  very  infrequently,  a supply  for  sev- 
eral months  being  made  each  time.  The  dough  is  formed 
into  little  balls,  which  are  first  rolled  out  and  then  flung 
from  one  hand  and  arm  to  the  other,  until  greatly  elongated 
and  about  as  thin  as  heavy  paper  or  felt;  then  they  are 
spread  over  a padded  wicker  frame  of  oval  shape,  about 
a yard  long  and  half  as  wide,  and  with  this  they  are  slapped 
against  the  sides  of  the  tandoor,  where  they  cling  for  a 
few  moments  until  baked  through,  when  the  baker  woman 
peals  them  off  and  stacks  them  about  on  the  floor  to  dry. 

The  kursee  has  a close  rival  as  a disease  breeder  in  the 
public  bath  or  Hammun.  Here  all  the  people  of  all  classes 
and  conditions,  sick  or  well,  decent  or  filthy,  bathe  in  turn, 
for  Persian  houses  know  no  bathrooms.  Here  women  meet 
each  other  and  have  their  only  chance  in  the  week  to  gossip 
to  their  heart’s  content.  They  spend  hours  in  the  Hammun, 
which  includes  not  only  bathing,  but  hair-dressing,  mani- 
curing and  the  application  of  various  cosmetics.  The 
stick  which  is  used  to  blacken  the  eve-brows  and  eve-lashes 
is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  almost  universal  spread  of 
trachoma  and  other  eye  diseases. 

Even  in  wealthy  homes,  the  furnishings  are  much  sim- 
pler than  they  are  in  Europe  and  America.  There  are 
usually  separate  quarters  for  men  and  women,  each  of 
which  has  a reception  room.  These  rooms  are  beautifully 
carpeted  with  Persian  rugs  and  are  furnished  with  many 
cushions,  and  in  recent  years  with  chairs  and  serving  tables, 
for  tea  must  always  be  served  to  callers. 

29 


The  ornamentation  of  homes  consists  chiefly  in  mir- 
rors large  and  small,  and  lamps  and  candlesticks  of  all 
sizes  and  kinds.  In  not  a few  homes  in  recent  years  the 
graduation  diplomas  of  sons  or  daughters  from  the  Ameri- 
can schools  hold  a place  of  honor. 

The  living  arrangements  of  the  homes  of  the  people 
are  simple  and  primitive.  The  food  consists  of  bread  and 
matzoon  (sour  milk),  a meat  stew  or  perhaps  a rice  pillaf. 
All  eat  from  a common  dish,  using  their  fingers  or  bits  of 
bread  in  lieu  of  spoons  and  forks.  Sometimes  larger  strips 
of  break  are  broken  off  and  used  as  plates,  and  then  the 
plate  is  devoured  little  by  little  with  the  food.  The  vine- 
yards of  Persia  furnish  many  important  additions  to  the 
diet,  among  them  fresh  grapes  and  those  that  are  hung  for 
the  winter,  raisins,  molasses,  vinegar  and  wines. 

The  life  of  women  and  girls  in  Persia  is  a hard  one. 
The  Persians  are  fond  of  children,  but  they  prefer  boys 
to  girls;  and  when  a girl  is  born  into  a home  where  there 
are  already  several  sisters,  she  is  frequently  named  “Guz- 
bes,”  meaning  “enough  girl.’’  Her  mother,  too,  will  very 
likely  be  divorced  for  having  brought  the  unwelcome  little 
waif  into  the  world.  Little  Guzbes  will  not  be  sent  to 
school,  of  course,  as  girls  have  no  more  mind  than  donkeys. 
She  will  have  to  begin  to  keep  the  fast  of  Ramazan  when 
she  is  nine  years  old,  though  her  brother  will  not  fast  until 
he  is  twelve.  When  she  is  eleven  or  twelve  years  old  her 
family  will  arrange  a marriage  for  her  with  a man  she  has 
never  seen,  and  she  will  become  a drudge  for  him  instead 
of  for  her  father  or  brothers.  She  will  become  the  mother 
of  many  children  probably,  but  only  a few  will  live  to 
grow  up  because  Guzbes  has  never  been  taught  how  to 
take  proper  care  of  babies.  As  she  grows  older,  other 
wives  will  perhaps  be  brought  to  share  her  home,  and  she 
will  steal,  here  a little  and  there  a little,  of  her  husband’s 
money  or  the  household  supplies,  hiding  them  away  against 
the  day  when  she  may  be  divorced  and  turned  out  of  the 
house.  The  daughter  of  a wealthy  home  does  not  suffer 
from  the  drudgery  of  life,  but  who  shall  say  her  lot  is 
easier,  as  she  does  nothing  day  after  day,  except  to  drink 

30 


tea,  or  smoke  cigarettes  or  the  water-pipe,  and  try  to  make 
herself  more  pleasing  to  her  husband  than  his  other  wives? 

The  moral  conditions  in  a large  Moslem  household  are 
better  left  to  be  imagined  than  described.  As  in  patri- 
archal times,  the  sons  bring  their  wives  to  their  father’s 
house  and  all  live  under  one  roof.  The  son  of  one  of 
Urumia’s  greatest  noblemen  attended  our  school  for  Mos- 
lem boys,  and  one  day  heard  the  Hakim  Sahib  (foreign 
doctor)  give  a talk  to  the  school  on  personal  purity.  After- 
wards he  said  to  his  teacher,  “How  could  a young  man 
possibly  grow  up  pure  in  my  father’s  house?”  His  father 
had  had  133  wives,  and  there  were  in  his  house  own  chil- 
dren and  great  grand-children  of  the  same  age. 

There  are  beginning  to  be  a few  happy  exceptions  to 
the  foregoing  picture.  Thanks  to  missionary  schools  and 
other  contacts  with  missionaries,  the  sentiment  is  growing 
that  was  expressed  by  one  high-class  lady  when  a mis- 
sionary mistook  her  daughter  for  a sister;  she  said,  "She 
is  my  daughter,  though  she  is  only  twelve  years  younger 
than  I am,  but  her  father  and  I have  agreed  that  we  will 
not  give  her  in  marriage  until  she  is  at  least  seventeen 
years  old.”  There  is  a demand  for  a change  on  the  part 
of  the  young  men  also,  and  an  increasing  number  of  school 
boys  are  saying,  “We  do  not  want  to  marry  little  girls 
who  cannot  read  and  write.  We  want  our  wives  to  be 
educated.” 

The  homes  of  the  Christians  in  Persia  are  very  different 
from  those  already  described,  though  the  houses  they  live 
in  are  in  general  the  same.  Polygamy  is,  of  course,  un- 
known, and  divorce  of  exceedingly  rare  occurrence.  Edu- 
cation has  been  given  to  three  generations  of  Christian 
women,  so  that  it  is  not  uncommon  now  for  a graduate  of 
Fiske  Seminary  to  have  a grandmother  who  also  studied 
there.  Even  village  girls  are  educated,  thanks  to  an  effi- 
cient system  of  village  schools  for  both  boys  and  girls. 
This  is  the  chief  reason  for  the  fact  that  even  a casual 
traveler  can  tell  a Christian  village  from  a Moslem  village 
as  far  away  as  he  can  see  it  by  the  appearance  of  greater 
cleanliness  and  comfort.  It  is  a fact  of  great  significance 

31 


that  during  a cholera  epidemic  some  years  ago  the  Christian 
villages  and  Christian  houses  of  the  city  suffered  less  than 
their  Moslem  neighbors,  because  they  followed  the  advice 
that  was  printed  and  circulated  by  the  missionary  doctor, 
while  the  others  were  inclined  to  scoff  at  it. 

The  Moslem  attitude  is  always  fatalistic  and  they  say, 
“If  it  is  God’s  will  that  we  die  of  cholera,  we  shall  die;  and 
why  should  we  boil  our  water  and  avoid  eating  fruit?”  But 
when  they  saw  how  much  better  the  Christians  came 
through  than  they  did,  they  decided  there  was  something 
worth  while  in  the  instructions  of  the  missionaries. 

The  chief  industry  of  Persia  has  for  centuries  been  the 
making  of  rugs.  In  almost  every  home  a loom  is  set  up, 
which  the  women  and  girls  w’ork  on  in  their  spare  moments, 
completing  a rug  in  a few  months,  or,  if  a large  one,  taking 
more  than  a year  to  finish  it.  Recently  this  industry  has 
been  commercialized  by  foreign  companies,  who  have  estab- 
lished factories,  where  women  and  boys  give  their  whole 
time  to  making  rugs,  but  still  rugs  continue  to  be  made  in 
many  homes,  especially  in  the  villages  and  among  the 
Nomad  tribes. 


Chapter  V 

A CENTURY  OF  MISSIONS 


IT  was  more  than  a century  ago,  in  1811,  that  Henry 
Martyn  went  to  Persia,  the  first  Protestant  missionary 
to  that  land.  He  lived  in  Shiraz  for  about  eleven  months, 
and  in  that  time,  besides  giving  frequent  and  bold  testi- 
mony before  the  Mohammedans,  he  completed  a transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  and  the  Psalms  into  Persian 
which  he  had  begun  in  India.  He  presented  a copy  of 
this  translation  to  the  Shah,  and  then  journeyed  westward, 
a solitary  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  until  death  overtook  him 
in  the  little  village  of  Tokat,  in  Asia  Minor.  There  a 

32 


shaft  set  up  by  the  East  India  Company  marks  his  lonely 
grave.  Thus  was  the  land  claimed  for  Christ. 

Since  then  a number  of  societies  have  worked  in  Persia 
for  a longer  or  shorter  period;  most  prominent  among 
them,  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  beginning  work  in  1833;  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  of  England  entering  in  1869,  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury’s  Mission  established  in  1886.  The  last- 
mentioned  carried  on  work  until  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
among  the  Assyrian  Christians  of  Urumia  and  the  moun- 
tains of  Kurdistan. 

The  work  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  is  entirely 
in  South  Persia,  having  stations  at  Isphahan,  Shiraz,  Kir- 
man  and  Yezd.  Their  work  has  been  wonderfully  blessed 
and  has  resulted  in  hundreds  of  conversions  of  Moham- 
medans. The  Presbyterian  Board  has  occupied  North 
Persia  and  has  two  missions,  known  as  the  East  and  West 
Persia  Missions.  The  latter  includes  the  stations  of  Uru- 
mia and  Tabriz.  The  former  includes  stations  at  Teheran, 
Resht,  Kasvin,  Hamadan,  Kirmashah  and  Meshed. 

In  1829  the  American  Board  sent  two  men  to  explore 
the  region  of  Northwest  Persia.  It  was  as  a result  of 
their  report  concerning  the  oppressed  Nestorians  on  the 
plain  about  Lake  Urumia  that  the  Nestorian  Mission  was 
established,  four  years  later,  when  the  Rev.  Justin  Perkins 
was  appointed  its  first  missionary.  Urumia  was  formerly 
occupied  as  a station  by  Dr.  Perkins  and  Dr.  Grant  and 
their  wives,  on  November  20,  1835. 

For  twenty  years  the  effort  was  to  reform  the  old  Nes- 
torian church  without  interfering  with  its  organization ; 
then  separation  inevitably  came  about,  but  not  as  a violent 
disruption.  The  converts  were  first  invited  to  unite  with 
the  missionaries  in  celebrating  the  Lord’s  Supper;  gradu- 
ally pastors  were  put  in  charge  of  the  little  congregations 
of  the  different  villages,  and  in  1862  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Presbytery  was  held.  Now  there  are  four  Presbyteries, 
three  in  Persia  and  one  in  Turkey,  which  together  form 
a Synod. 

The  history  of  the  growth  of  the  work  in  the  Urumia 

33 


region  is  a thrilling  story  of  Pentecostal  blessings  and 
Apostolic  power.  Through  labors,  pestilence,  famine,  per- 
secution and  perils,  the  mighty  work  of  God  was  mani- 
fested in  remarkable  providences  and  in  abundant  conver- 
sions. It  is  a long  record  of  noble  missionaries  and  faithful 
native  workers  doing  exploits  through  the  power  of  God. 

It  has  always  been  the  hope  of  the  missionaries  that 
the  Assyrian  Church  would  be  the  source  of  supply  for 
evangelists  to  the  Moslems  of  Urumia  and  all  of  North 
Persia.  This  hope  has  been  realized  to  a certain  extent, 
and  we  believe  will  be  increasingly  realized  as  a result  of 
the  terrible  sufferings  and  dispersion  of  God’s  people  dur- 
ing the  war.  The  Assyrian  Evangelical  Church,  before  the 
war,  had  attained  a degree  of  self-support  that  wras  en- 
couraging though  not  wholly  satisfactory.  It  was  doing 
its  work  through  three  well-organized  native  boards, 
Evangelistic,  Educational  and  Legal.  It  had  furnished 
many  workers  for  other  fields,  including  Tabriz,  Salmas, 
Maragha,  Hamadan,  the  Caucasus  and  the  mountain  field 
as  far  as  Bohtan,  200  miles  away  on  the  Tigris  River.  Col- 
porteurs and  evangelists  from  Urumia  have  “hazarded  their 
lives  for  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ’’  in  many 
places. 

In  1871  the  w’ork  wras  transferred  by  the  American 
Board  to  the  Presbyterian  Board.  The  following  year  a 
station  was  opened  at  Teheran  and  a year  later  at  Tabriz. 
Hamadan  was  next  occupied  in  1880  and  in  1883  the  work 
was  divided  into  the  East  and  West  Persia  Missions.  In 
the  work  of  both  Missions  there  has  always  been 
co-operation  with  the  American  Bible  Society  and  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  to  the  great  advantage 
of  the  work.  Now  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
has  charge  of  all  the  work  in  Persia.  The  work  in  all  the 
stations  of  both  Missions  has  been  carried  on  along  similar 
lines,  including  evangelistic,  educational  and  medical 
agencies,  ministering  to  all  the  races  and  peoples  repre- 
sented in  the  various  fields.  Urumia  also  had  a press  and 
published  evangelistic  and  educational  literature  for  the 
two  Missions.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  work 

34 


for  the  Mohammedans  has  resulted  in  more  converts  from 
Islam  in  East  Persia  than  in  West  Persia,  as  the  people 
are  less  fanatical  in  regions  nearer  the  capital.  There  are 
many  signs  already  that  the  Moslem  work  in  West  Persia 
is  to  be  greatly  increased  and  we  trust  greatly  blessed  as 
a result  of  the  war  that  brought  such  terrible  sufferings 
to  both  Christians  and  Mohammedans.  We  have  heard 
many  of  the  Christians  say,  “These  troubles  came  upon 
us  because  we  had  not  been  faithful  in  trying  to  convert 
our  Moslem  neighbors,  and  we  are  praying  God  to  let  us 
return  home  that  we  may  tell  them  of  our  Christ.”  And 
we  have  heard  more  than  one  Mohammedan  say,  “I  have 
seen  what  my  people  have  done  to  the  Christians,  and  I 
have  seen  how  they  have  borne  the  persecutions,  and  I am 
done  with  Islam.” 

In  West  Persia,  especially  in  the  Urumia  district,  the 
entrance  of  the  Russian  Mission  about  1890  caused  a great 
setback  to  the  work,  as  a large  majority  of  the  old  Nes- 
torian  Church  in  Persia  and  a few  of  the  Evangelical 
Church  members  went  over  to  the  Russian  Orthodox  Church 
for  the  sake  of  the  political  advantages  they  expected  to 
reap.  This  hindrance  was  removed  by  the  war,  and  the 
Evangelical  Church  now  has  the  opportunity  to  win  these 
thousands  who  are  left  without  any  spiritual  shepherd. 

A later  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  educational  work, 
but  something  should  be  said  here  of  the  medical  work  as 
an  agency  in  winning  the  favor  of  the  Mohammedans. 

Islam  constitutes  probably  the  most  difficult  problem 
before  the  missionary  church  today,  and  nothing  has  been 
more  effective  under  God’s  hand  in  grappling  with  this 
problem  than  the  medical  arm  of  our  missionary  service. 
The  proud  Mullah,  who  would  not  touch  a Christian’s 
hand  for  fear  of  pollution,  has  kissed  the  hands  of  the 
surgeon  who  opened  his  blind  eyes.  The  fierce  Kurd  who 
cares  nothing  for  education,  and  less  than  nothing  for 
preaching,  is  ready  to  call  himself  the  slave  of  the  doctor 
who  saved  his  child’s  life  by  an  operation.  Many  were 
the  times  during  the  war  when  the  Urumia  missionaries 
and  the  native  Christians  in  the  mission  yards  owed  their 

35 


safety  to  the  fact  that  certain  Kurdish  chieftains,  or  mem- 
bers of  their  families,  had  been  saved  from  death  by  the 
surgeon’s  knife  or  the  doctor’s  traveling  medicine  bag. 
The  starving  beggar  whom  none  would  touch  has  been 
brought  to  love  the  tender  Christian  hands  that  washed  his 
filthy  body  and  laid  it  in  a clean  bed;  and  the  educated 
nobleman  who  would  scorn  the  Christian’s  Book  has  learned 
to  read  and  love  the  Bible  that  was  read  to  him  as  he  lay 
in  the  American  hospital. 

The  story  of  our  newest  station,  Meshed,  is  a fine  example 
of  the  way  in  which  medicine  is  the  handmaid  of  evangel- 
ism. Meshed  is  a city  of  120,000  inhabitants,  the  capital 
of  the  fertile  province  of  Khorassan,  lying  north  of  the 
borders  of  Afghanistan  and  Russian  Turkestan;  here  the 
great  overland  caravan  routes  from  India  and  Central  Asia 
on  the  east,  and  Persia,  Arabia  and  Turkey  on  the  west, 
converge.  It  is  the  nearest  and  best  approach  to  the  last- 
closed  country,  Afghanistan.  It  is  one  of  the  strategic 
challenging  places  of  the  world  from  a missionary’s  point 
of  view.  Meshed  is  one  of  the  three  sacred  cities  of  the 
Mohammedan  world,  Mecca  and  Kerbola  being  the  other 
two.  Thither  the  tribes  go  up,  tribes  of  pilgrims,  100,000 
of  them  annually.  They  come  from  Kashmir,  Afghanistan, 
Bokhara,  India  and  every  part  of  Persia,  and  besides  these 
transients,  Meshed  has  a most  cosmopolitan  population  of 
its  own,  including  Arabs,  Turks,  Hindus  and  Persians. 
This  city  had  been  visited  a few  times  by  missionaries 
from  Teheran  and  Hamadan,  but  was  first  occupied  in 
1911  by  Rev.  L.  F.  Esselstyn,  D.  D.  He  very  soon  asked 
for  a medical  associate,  feeling  that  evangelism  and  medi- 
cine must  work  together  if  they  were  to  gain  the  attention 
of  the  multitude,  and  a splendid  team  they  have  made. 

The  American  doctor  in  Meshed  in  ten  months  saw 
17,000  patients  and  performed  four  hundred  operations. 
In  the  dispensary,  thousands  of  visitors  have  heard  the 
Gospel  message,  and  thousands  of  copies  of  Scriptures  have 
been  sold.  Sometimes  a boy  or  man  who  has  bought  a 
book  on  some  previous  occasion  comes  and  testifies  to  the 
crowd  that  he  has  found  it  “very  sweet,”  or  “the  word  of 

36 


God,”  or  “necessary  for  ns  all.”  Even  the  illiterate  buy 
it,  saying  they  will  get  some  one  to  read  it  to  them. 

The  force  at  Meshed  has  been  greatly  increased  dur- 
ing the  last  year.  An  adequate  hospital  is  to  be  built  and 
educational  work  started  at  once.  Dr.  Esselstyn,  the  noble 
pioneer,  has  gone  to  his  reward,  having  fallen  a victim  to 
typhus  fever  in  1918,  while  carrying  a heavy  burden  of 
relief  work  in  addition  to  his  usual  labors. 

Many  stories  might  be  told  of  individual  converts  from 
Islam,  but  two  must  suffice,  one  from  each  Mission: 

Mirza  Ibrahim  lived  in  Khoi,  seventy-five  miles  to  the 
north  of  Urumia.  He  became  acquainted  with  Shamasha 
Werda,  a graduate  of  Urumia  College,  who  was  an  evan- 
gelist for  that  region  for  many  years.  Through  him,  Mirza 
Ibrahim  first  became  interested  in  Christianity.  After- 
wards he  was  further  instructed  and  baptized  by  our 
Syrian  pastor  in  Salmas.  Persecution  began  as  soon  as 
he  was  baptized.  His  wife  left  him,  and  he  was  cast  out 
by  his  entire  family.  Finally  he  had  to  flee  to  the  mis- 
sionaries in  Urumia,  and  for  some  time  was  engaged  in 
translating  Foster’s  “Story  of  the  Bible”  into  Turkish. 
He  was  not  contented,  however,  and  felt  that  he  must  be 
out  in  the  villages  preaching  the  gospel.  For  some  months 
he  was  very  active  preaching  in  the  villages  of  the  Baran- 
duz  River,  and  then  he  was  arrested  and  sent  to  Urumia 
and  imprisoned.  Soon  he  was  transferred  to  the  govern- 
ment prison  of  Tabriz.  There  he  preached  Christ  con- 
stantly to  his  fellow  prisoners  until  the  fame  of  him 
reached  the  authorities,  who  urged  all  the  prisoners  who 
would  win  merit  as  good  Mohammedans  to  silence  him,  by 
violence  if  necessary.  Accordingly,  they  fell  upon  him 
with  blows  and  abuse;  and  when  that  did  not  stop  him, 
they  finally  choked  him  almost  to  death  with  their  hands 
one  night.  In  the  morning  his  condition  was  so  serious 
that  the  authorities,  in  alarm,  allowed  Dr.  Vanneman  to 
go  to  see  him.  The  doctor  found  his  neck  lacerated  and 
his  throat  so  obstructed  that  nothing  could  be  done  for 
him.  He  died  after  a few  hours  of  suffering,  but  was 
conscious  to  the  last  and  glad  and  triumphant  in  Christ. 

37 


(Mirza)  Seyid  Khan  is  a converted  Gorani  Kurd  of 
Senna.  When  asked  one  time  what  first  interested  him 
in  Christianity,  he  said  it  was  not  any  preaching  that  he 
had  heard;  it  was  the  holy  life  of  the  Assyrian  pastor  that 
made  him  willing  to  study  for  himself  the  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  that  this  man  presented  to  him.  When  he  be- 
came a Christian,  his  family  were  terribly  angry,  for  they 
were  descended  from  seven  generations  of  Mohammedan 
Mullahs.  He  fled  to  Hamadan,  whither  his  brother  fol- 
lowed him  with  dagger  and  gun  to  kill  him.  He  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  Holmes  in  Hamadan,  and  later  studied 
in  England.  When  he  returned  to  Persia,  he  became  the 
leading  eye  specialist  in  Teheran.  At  one  time  he  was  sent 
for  to  visit  a patient  in  Senna,  his  former  home.  Many 
of  his  friends  urged  him  not  to  go  fearing  for  his  life,  but 
he  believed  that  it  was  God’s  opportunity  for  him,  and 
he  went.  When  his  former  neighbors  saw  what  a great 
and  wise  man  he  had  become,  they  brought  many  wrho 
were  sick  to  see  him,  and  the  Mullahs  said,  “What  a pity 
such  a man  is  not  still  a Mohammedan ! Let  us  try  to  find 
out  what  changed  his  faith.”  So  by  day  he  ministered  to 
the  sick,  and  far  into  the  night  he  talked  of  his  Christian 
faith;  and,  when  he  left,  the  blessing  of  many  who  had 
hated  and  longed  to  kill  him,  followed  him.  Today  he  is 
still  doing  the  work  of  a Christian  physician,  and  the 
brother  who  followed  him  with  rifle  and  dagger  is  now  a 
touring  evangelist,  preaching  Christ  in  all  the  region 
around  Hamadan. 


Chapter  VI 

EDUCATION,  THE  GIFT  OF  THE  WEST 
TO  THE  EAST 

WHAT  western  education  has  done  for  Persia  and 
what  opportunities  are  as  yet  ungraspcd  are  both 
suggested  by  a remark  of  an  ignorant  old  Kurd  made  to 

38 


a missionary  a number  of  years  ago.  He  said,  “I  saw 
the  Christians  in  Urumia  fifty  years  ago;  they  were 
ignorant  laborers  and  poor.  I see  them  today,  and  because 
of  your  schools  and  churches,  they  have  become  the  learned 
and  the  masters,  and  the  land  is  in  their  hands;  but  the 
Kurds  are  as  yet  as  dogs.  I have  thirty-two  boys  under 
my  roof.  Give  us  a school,  and  these  thirty-two  boys 
shall  be  your  first  scholars.” 

More  than  eighty  years  ago  all  of  Persia  was  almost 
as  primitive  and  unenlightened  as  in  the  time  of  Abraham. 
Today  there  are  thousands  of  her  population  who  have 
seen  a light,  and  who  have  moved  out  of  the  darkness  and 
superstition  in  which  they  and  their  fathers  had  sat  for 
centuries;  but  still  darkness  covers  much  of  the  land,  and 
many  reach  out  their  hands  and  beg  for  schools  as  did 
the  poor  old  Kurd. 

The  story  of  western  education  in  Persia  begins  in  a 
dark  little  cellar  in  Urumia,  on  a cold  January  day  in  1836, 
when  Rev.  Justin  Perkins  gathered  about  him  ten  little 
Assyrian  boys.  On  the  second  day  seventeen  came,  and 
in  the  course  of  time  that  little  school  grew  into  Urumia 
College  and  the  American  School  for  Boys,  with  depart- 
ments for  Moslems  and  Jews  as  well  as  Christian  boys. 
This  institution  has  sent  out  hundreds  of  teachers,  preach- 
ers and  colporteurs,  and,  in  connection  with  Westminster 
Hospital,  more  than  a score  of  native  physicians. 

The  first  school  for  girls  began  in  1838,  with  Mrs. 
Judith  Grant  as  teacher  and  four  little  Nestorian  girls  as 
pupils.  When  Miss  Fidelia  Fiske  arrived  five  years  later, 
she  determined  to  start  a boarding  department  in  order 
that  she  might  remove  the  girls  from  the  vice  and  degrada- 
tion of  their  home  environment.  On  the  opening  day  no 
pupils  appeared  at  first,  and  Miss  Fiske  was  almost  dis- 
couraged, but  before  the  day  was  over  Mar  Yohanan 
brought  her  two  little  girls  and  placed  their  hands  in  hers, 
saying,  “They  be  your  daughters;  no  man  take  them  from 
your  hand.  Now  you  begin  Mt.  Holyoke  in  Persia.” 

This  Mar  Yohanan  had  been  taken  to  America  for  a visit, 
and  on  his  return  had  reported  the  wonders  he  had  seen 

39 


in  these  words:  "The  blind  they  do  see,  the  deaf  they  do 
hear,  and  the  women  they  do  read — they  be  not  beasts.” 

Out  of  Fiske  Seminary  have  gone  hundreds  of  teachers 
and  preachers’  wives  and  thousands  of  enlightened  mothers, 
and  for  the  last  fifteen  years  there  has  been  a department 
of  the  school  for  Moslem  girls,  and  a hopeful  beginning 
has  been  made  in  a school  for  Jewish  girls. 

Besides  the  American  School  for  Boys  and  Fiske  Semi- 
nary for  Girls,  there  are  schools  of  primary  grade  in  most 
of  the  Christian  villages  on  the  plain  and  in  about  fifty 
mountain  centers,  and  plans  were  on  foot  for  opening 
schools  in  certain  Moslem  villages  when  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  war  put  an  end  temporarily  to  all  the  work  in  the 
Urumia  field. 

In  Tabriz  there  are  two  large  mission  schools,  the 
Memorial  School  for  Boys  and  the  School  for  Girls.  The 
former  was  started  in  the  face  of  bitter  opposition,  in 
1873,  and  the  latter  in  1879.  Both  schools  reach  all  classes 
of  Persian  children,  rich  and  poor,  as  well  as  the  Armenians 
and  Jews.  Both  schools  have  successful  boarding  depart- 
ments and  large  day  schools.  Their  courses  include  grades 
from  the  kindergarten  through  high  school.  Lessons  are 
given  in  the  Arabic,  Persian,  Turkish,  Armenian,  Russian, 
French  and  English  languages. 

A large  development  of  village  school  work  is  one  of  the 
great  opportunities  that  Tabriz  station  is  eager  to  enter 
into.  This  is  shown  very  significantly  by  the  fact  that 
recently  a petition  was  received  at  Tabriz  from  Maragha, 
signed  by  seventy  Armenians,  asking  for  a school.  Thirty- 
five  years  ago  there  came  from  the  same  place  a petition 
from  the  Armenians  that  the  Protestant  church  in  their 
town  should  be  removed. 

In  the  East  Persia  Mission  there  are  a number  of 
schools  that  have  had  a romantic  history  and  a remark- 
able record,  which  can  only  be  briefly  mentioned  here.  In 
Teheran  there  is  the  Boys’  High  School,  which  was  started 
in  1887,  and  which  is  now  being  raised  to  an  institution 
of  college  rank.  It  may  astonish  American  readers  to 
know  that  this  institution  has  in  it  more  Mohammedan 


40 


pupils  than  there  are  in  the  seven  splendid  American  col- 
leges that  have  been  established  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 

In  the  first  years  of  its  history,  like  all  other  Mission 
schools  in  Persia,  it  drew  its  pupils  from  the  non-Moham- 
medan population,  but  the  Persians  soon  came  to  see  the 
advantage  of  sending  their  boys  to  such  a school,  for,  as 
some  of  them  said,  “The  Americans  have  a factory  where 
they  manufacture  men,”  and  now  more  than  half  the  pupils 
are  Mohammedans.  These  come  from  all  classes,  among 
them  many  from  the  best  and  most  influential  families  and 
several  from  the  royal  house. 

The  Girls’  School  in  Teheran,  called  Iran  Bethel,  was 
begun  about  forty  years  ago  at  a time  when  Persian  women 
hardly  dared  to  be  taught  even  at  home  and  when,  if  a 
girl  wrent  to  school,  the  family  tried  to  conceal  the  fact. 
Year  by  year  it  has  grown  in  favor  with  the  people,  and 
now  it  is  not  only  the  popular  thing  for  Mohammedan 
mothers  to  want  their  girls  to  attend  an  American  school, 
but  fathers  as  well  eagerly  seek  to  have  their  daughters 
received  there. 

In  Hamadan  the  Boys’  School  was  one  of  the  first 
enterprises  undertaken  when  the  station  wTas  opened  in 

1881,  and  the  Faith  Hubbard  School  for  Girls  began  only 
a year  later,  when  Miss  Annie  Montgomery  went  there  in 

1882.  The  story  of  Miss  Montgomery’s  long  service  is 
a record  that  would  inspire  the  dullest  heart,  and  although 
she  herself  moved  on  to  a higher  service  two  or  three  years 
ago,  her  life  is  going  on  multiplied  in  hundreds  of  Persian 
homes  today. 

There  is  not  time  to  tell  of  other  schools,  but  in  general 
it  is  true  that  wherever  there  is  a Mission  station,  one  of 
its  earliest  activities  is  the  founding  of  schools  for  boys 
and  girls,  and  there  is  no  more  potent  agent  in  breaking 
down  prejudice  than  American  schools,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  American  hospitals.  Colporteurs  of  the  Bible 
Society  have  said,  that  wherever  they  have  found  gradu- 
ates of  our  schools  in  cities  or  in  villages,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  they  have  found  them  friendly  and  in  many 

41 


cases  ready  to  help  interest  the  community  to  buy  Scrip- 
tures. 

In  West  Persia  and  in  East  Persia  many  converts  have 
been  won  among  Mohammedan  pupils  of  our  schools.  Per- 
sia herself  is  seeking  education,  for  her  wisest  men  know 
that  her  sorest  need  is  for  men  to  know  enough  to  be  lead- 
ers. So  eager  are  they  for  western  education  that  they 
are  even  willing  that  their  boys  and  girls  should  receive 
instruction  in  the  Christian  Bible,  since  that  is  a necessary 
part  of  the  American  school  teaching. 

This  victory  has  not  been  won  without  struggles.  In 
the  schools  in  Urumia  and  Tabriz  and  Teheran,  and  all 
the  other  educational  institutions,  the  Bible  is  regularly 
taught.  There  have  been  in  every  school  complaints,  defec- 
tions and  even  revolt,  in  some  cases  threatening  disaster 
to  the  work,  but  always  in  the  end  attendance  has  increased, 
and  loyalty  to  the  school  has  grown  stronger  because  they 
know  that  the  American  school  has  something  to  give  them 
that  they  cannot  get  anywhere  else. 

Many  a boy,  as  he  has  eagerly  studied  his  science  les- 
son, has  found  that  his  faith  in  Mohammedanism  is  shaken, 
and  through  knowledge  of  nature  some  have  come  to  know 
nature’s  God.  One  boy  in  the  Urumia  school  said,  after 
hearing  a lecture  on  water,  “The  doctor  lectured  to  us 
about  water,  and  he  showed  us  the  whole  glory  of  God.” 

Americans  believe  in  education;  Persians  are  beginning 
to  believe  in  it  and  to  long  for  it,  and  some  sort  of  educa- 
tion they  are  bound  to  have.  So  far  the  Mission  schools 
have  had  the  field  to  themselves,  but  recently  the  Persians 
are  sending  their  boys  to  Paris  and  are  bringing  French 
teachers  out  to  start  Government  schools.  Now  is  the 
time  when  we  must  greatly  enlarge  our  work  to  meet  the 
hourly  increasing  demand,  or  we  must  see  rationalistic  or 
atheistic  education  take  the  place  that  is  now  open  for  the 
Christian  Missionary  School. 


42 


Chapter  VII 

WHAT  OF  THE  FUTURE? 


PERSIA  is  changing  fast.  Like  the  other  nations  of 
Asia,  she  has  felt  the  stirrings  of  a national  conscious- 
ness, and  of  ambitions  and  desires  which  the  selfishness 
and  the  imperialistic  aims  of  European  powers  have  not 
allowed  her  to  realize.  What  she  will  be  politically  is  not 
yet  certain,  though  at  present  it  looks  as  though  she  would 
become  more  or  less  a vassal  state  of  Great  Britain.  At 
any  rate,  rightly  or  wrongly,  for  good  or  for  evil,  Eng- 
land has  undertaken  to  administer  Persian  affairs  for  a 
time,  and  this  means  progress  and  development  in  many 
material  ways,  the  building  of  railroads  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  many  of  the  accompaniments  of  civilization.  All 
these  will  inevitably  affect  missionary  work,  and  the  Church 
should  see  in  it  a call  to  enlarge  and  expand  on  a scale 
hitherto  undreamed  of. 

The  next  few  decades  will  be  the  most  critical  time  in 
Persian  history,  and  it  is  for  the  Church  of  Christ  to  say 
whether  Persia’s  next  generation  shall  become  Christian  or 
atheist.  Mohammedan  it  is  not  likely  to  remain.  Shall 
we  plant  the  new  hospitals  and  schools  that  the  mission- 
aries are  asking  for?  Shall  we  send  evangelists  and  cor- 
porteurs  and  preachers  into  every  corner  of  this  awaken- 
ing land?  This  is  the  challenge  of  progress  and  develop- 
ment that  confronts  us  in  East  Persia,  and  the  appeal  from 
West  Persia,  though  the  situation  is  so  different,  is  not  less 
imperative. 

Urumia  has  been  for  the  past  few  years,  and  still  is, 
“the  red  spot”  on  the  missionary  map  of  the  world.  Her 
villages  are  for  the  most  part  deserted  or  inhabited  by 
roving  bands  of  Kurds.  Her  fields  and  vineyards  lie  waste 
and  uncultivated,  and  in  the  city  the  streets  are  full  of 
starving  beggars,  while  the  formerly  well-to-do  Moslems 
are  reduced  to  poverty.  The  Christian  population  are  all 

43 


in  exile,  while  the  Moslems  have  been  reduced  perhaps  50 
per  cent,  by  war,  sickness  and  famine. 

Mr.  Mueller,  after  a visit  to  Urumia  a few  months  ago, 
described  Mart  Maryam,  the  Christian  quarter  of  the  city, 
as  “a  maze  of  uncovered  buildings,  a wilderness  of  white 
walls  looking  to  heaven.”  He  says,  ‘‘The  street  below, 
that  used  to  be  such  a busy  thoroughfare,  was  dead  and 
silent;  one  almost  listened  for  the  sound  of  jackals.  When, 
perchance,  a man  walked  up  the  street,  his  heavy  foot- 
falls seemed  almost  an  intrusion  in  the  city  of  the  dead. 
Those  who  built  up  this  section,  because  of  their  religion 
and  their  defense  of  the  Allied  cause,  are  now  scattered 
to  the  four  winds  and  dare  not  return  unprotected.” 

Of  the  three  Mission  compounds,  only  Sardari,  the 
American  Boys’  School  yard,  remains  approximately  in- 
tact, thanks  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  used  since  the 
deportation  of  the  missionaries,  first  for  a Mohammedan 
school  and  then  as  city  police  headquarters.  The  Hospital- 
College  compound  and  central  city  yards  present  scenes 
of  desolation  that  almost  equal  the  houses  of  Mart  Maryam. 
There  are  gaping  holes  where  doors  and  windows  used  to 
be;  stairways,  balconies  and  other  woodwork  have  been 
torn  out,  and  several  of  the  buildings  give  evidence  that 
fires  were  set  in  an  effort  to  destroy  them  entirely.  Broken 
pieces  of  stoves  and  battered  safes,  and  in  one  home  the 
cast-iron  plate  that  used  to  be  the  inside  of  a piano,  are 
the  only  remnants  of  former  furnishings.  Some  charred 
bits  of  paper  are  all  that  remain  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
years’  work  on  a Syriac  Concordance.  Hospital  equip- 
ment, school  desks,  libraries,  press,  station  records,  and 
safes  and  the  material  part  of  happy  missionary  homes, 
all  are  gone.  Blood  stains  in  rooms  and  on  window  sills 
and  walls  show  where  the  victims  of  the  last  massacre 
died  their  martyr  deaths,  and  it  is  reported  that  the  wells 
are  full  of  decomposing  bodies. 

Docs  this  picture  stagger  your  faith,  and  will  you  be 
of  those  who  say,  “Surely  the  missionaries  will  not  go 
back  to  such  a place  again?”  Or,  do  you  see  in  it,  as  the 
missionaries  themselves  do,  a challenge,  a trumpet  call  that 

44 


we  must  hasten  to  answer?  If  “the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
is  the  seed  of  the  Church,”  surely  a great  harvest  is  to  be 
reaped  in  the  coming  years  in  the  Urumia  field.  The  mis- 
sionaries of  that  station  on  the  field,  at  last  accounts,  were 
still  in  Tabriz,  but  were  hoping  from  week  to  week  that 
it  w ould  be  possible  for  them  to  go  back  home. 

The  sufferings  of  these  war  years  have  brought  many 
changes  that  are  full  of  hope. 

In  1917,  as  reported  in  a previous  chapter,  35,000 
mountaineers  came  down  to  the  Salmas  and  Urumia  plains 
as  refugees  from  Kurdistan  and  Tabriz.  Mr.  McDowell 
wrote  concerning  them:  “For  years  we  have  had  to  go  to 

them,  spending  days  and  weeks  in  toilsome  and  dangerous 
journey ings,  to  minister  to  small  congregations  scattered 
over  a wfide  area.  This  past  winter,  these  scattered  tribes 
have  gathered  together  within  a narrow  compass  at  our 
very  door.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  urgency  of  caring 
for  the  bodies  of  these  people  has  sometimes  interfered 
with  ministering  to  their  souls ; but  that  we  have  served 
them  with  our  own  hands  has  been  marked  by  many  and 
has  given  greater  power  to  the  word  when  spoken.” 

During  the  long  months  when  relief  was  given  them, 
daily  services  were  held  wdienever  possible  in  all  the  dif- 
ferent centers,  and  since  the  great  flight  of  1918  the  enor- 
mous camp  at  Bakuba  has  had  preaching  services  and 
primary  school  advantages,  such  as  never  have  been  pos- 
sible in  all  the  years  of  heroic  work  done  by  Mr.  McDowell 
and  other  touring  missionaries. 

In  many  of  the  Syrian  Christians  a new  spirit  has  been 
born  as  the  result  of  their  sufferings,  and  in  the  refugee 
congregations  there  is  a marked  growth  in  the  evangelistic 
spirit.  It  is  a surprising  fact,  reported  in  recent  letters 
from  Tabriz,  that  not  only  is  there  effort  on  the  part  of 
many  to  tell  their  neighbors  about  Christ,  but  there  is  also 
an  amazing  development  of  independence  and  purpose  to 
become  self-supporting,  as  soon  as  they  possibly  can  after 
being  repatriated  to  their  homes  and  villages.  Of  the 
many  stories  that  might  be  told  to  show  the  transformed 
spirit  of  Syrian  Christians,  I shall  tell  only  two. 

45 


Rabi  Surra  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  women  in  the 
Syrian  nation.  Her  husband,  who  had  studied  in  Canada 
and  was  a Canadian  subject,  had  been  a lay  preacher  of 
great  usefulness,  but  was  killed  sixteen  years  ago  by  Kurds. 
Rabi  Surra  had  been  embittered  against  the  church  by  this 
occurrence,  and  though  personally  most  friendly  to  all  the 
missionaries,  she  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  church 
or  any  of  its  meetings.  She  was  a large,  cheerful  and 
hospitable  woman,  and  often  entertained  the  missionaries 
at  dinner  in  her  beautiful  city  home,  or  in  her  vineyard 
near  the  village  of  Gulpashan.  She  had  a widowed  daugh- 
ter, Mary,  who  came  to  live  at  home  after  the  death  of 
her  husband  in  1916,  and  a son,  Baba,  who  had  been  born 
after  his  father’s  death  and  consequently  was  the  light  of 
his  mother’s  eyes.  Besides  these,  she  had  adopted  three 
motherless  children  of  a deceased  relative,  and  for  years 
they  had  been  as  her  very  own. 

Katy,  the  oldest  of  these,  was  a seminary  graduate; 
she  had  married  a fine  young  man  and  had  a baby  son, 
about  a year  old,  when  the  flight  occurred,  at  which  time 
the  baby’s  father  fled  with  the  mass  of  the  people.  Adina, 
the  second  girl,  was  a junior  in  the  seminary  and  a very 
beautiful  girl.  Juan  was  ten  years  old  and  also  very 
pretty.  Rabi  Surra  and  her  household  were  among  those 
deported  to  Salmas  in  August,  1918,  by  the  Turks.  They 
suffered  from  exhaustion,  heat,  hunger  and  thirst,  and  one 
by  one  they  became  sick  with  the  terrible  dysentery  that 
carried  off  thousands  of  Armenian  and  Syrian  victims  of 
those  awful  Turkish  deportations.  When  I went  back  to 
Urumia  in  May,  1919,  Rabi  Surra  told  me  the  story  of  it 
all,  and  I shall  always  thank  God  that  I saw  the  glory 
of  her  face  as  she  told  of  God’s  providences  and  loving 
kindness.  She  was  pitifully  thin  as  compared  with  the 
Rabi  Surra  we  used  to  know,  but  her  face  had  on  it  a 
shining  light  that  was  even  more  beautiful  than  the  happy 
and  prosperous  look  of  the  days  of  her  generous  hospi- 
tality. This,  in  substance,  is  what  she  said: 

“When  I lived  at  home  in  comfort  and  luxury,  my  heart 
was  hard  toward  God  and  toward  His  Church,  for  I 

46 


thought  he  had  no  right  to  let  so  good  a man  as  my  hus- 
band be  killed  and  one  who  had  done  so  much  for  the 
Church,  but  now  my  heart  is  softened,  and  I wish  that  I 
had  a new  tongue  with  which  to  tell  of  God’s  loving  kind- 
ness. When  we  were  taken  to  Salmas,  through  all  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  way,  God  was  very  near  to  us — a support 
to  rest  upon.  He  comforted  us  in  every  trial,  and  He 
heard  our  prayers  and  answered  them.  When  the  Turkish 
officers  came  to  search  out  the  pretty  girls,  and  their  choice 
fell  upon  our  three  in  turn,  we  cried  to  God  to  keep  them 
pure  and  He  heard  and  sent  sickness.  First  Katy  became 
sick,  and  I carried  her  on  my  back  over  the  hot,  dusty 
miles  with  no  chance  to  wash  my  clothes,  which  she  could 
not  help  soiling.  After  a day  or  two  Katy  died,  and  her 
baby  soon  followed  her.  Then  Adina  was  taken  sick  the 
very  day  that  a Turkish  officer  had  been  looking  for  her. 
She  died  and  so  was  safe.  Then  one  day  even  little  Juan 
was  in  danger,  and  God  heard  our  cry  and  sent  her  a sick- 
ness, and  in  a day  or  two  she  died.  Mary  and  Baba  and 
I were  left  to  return,  wreeks  later,  to  Urumia.  On  the 
way  Baba  was  taken  sick,  but  God  was  good  and  permitted 
us  to  get  him  back  to  Urumia,  and  there  he  died  in  the 
Mission  yard.  Then  it  seemed  there  was  no  reason  why 
I should  live  on,  and  at  first  I wished  that  God  would  take 
me,  too,  but  now  I know  that  so  long  as  I have  a tongue 
with  which  to  tell  His  praise,  there  is  something  for  me 
to  do,  and  I am  willing  to  stay  as  long  as  He  wants  me 
to,  to  tell  my  old  neighbors  and  the  Moslems  how  great  is 
God’s  loving  kindness.” 

God  did  not  keep  her  very  long  away  from  her  dear 
ones,  for  on  the  24th  of  May  she  was  one  of  the  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy  who  won  the  martyr’s  crown  in  the 
American  Mission  yard. 

The  other  story  is  of  one  of  our  native  pastors  who 
fled  with  the  nation,  leaving  his  wife  and  children  in  the 
home  of  a Moslem  friend.  It  should  be  explained  that 
many  men  went  in  this  same  way,  knowing  that  they  could 
not  possibly  remain  and  be  safe  themselves,  but  believing 
that  their  families  could  be  protected  by  Moslem  friends, 

47 


and  many  Moslems  did  keep  Syrian  families  safe  for  sev- 
eral weeks,  until  the  Turks  began  a search  and  removed 
them  from  their  friends’  houses  and  deported  them  to 
Salmas. 

The  wife  of  this  preacher,  with  her  three  daughters 
and  one  young  son,  was  removed  from  their  friend’s  house. 
They  were  somehow  separated,  and  the  mother  and  the 
brightest  of  the  three  daughters  were  turned  over,  for  a 
time,  to  a wealthy  Moslem  of  the  city.  Later  they  were 
deported,  and  both  died  by  the  wayside.  The  other  two 
daughters  and  the  son  were  in  some  way  rescued  by  their 
faithful  Moslem  friend,  and  eventually  reached  Tabriz 
safely,  and  there  met  their  father  when  he  returned  from 
the  southern  flight. 

This  preacher  was  very  active  in  doing  evangelistic 
work  among  the  refugees  at  Tabriz,  and  showed  an  excel- 
lent spirit,  except  that  he  said  he  could  never  forgive  the 
man  who  had  tried  to  ruin  his  daughter,  though  his  efforts 
were  unsuccessful,  thanks  to  the  mother’s  fierce  fight  to 
protect  her.  One  day  when  he  had  been  reading  to  a little 
company  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  he  said  to  me, 
“How  can  I ever  preach  again  on  the  Lord’s  prayer  and 
say  the  words,  ‘Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our 
debtors,’  for  I can  never  forgive  that  man,  and  I would 
give  my  last  penny  and  spend  my  last  energy  to  bring 
him  to  the  gallows.”  We  agreed  that  only  a working  of 
God’s  spirit  could  change  his  feeling,  and  so  we  prayed 
together  and  pledged  ourselves  to  pray  daily  separately 
for  this  work  of  grace  in  his  heart.  One  day,  about  two 
weeks  later,  he  came  with  shining  face  and  said,  “It  is 
gone,  it  is  gone,  that  hatred  has  been  taken  out  of  my 
heart,  and  now  I will  gladly  preach  the  gospel  of  God’s 
love  to  that  man  who  was  my  worst  enemy  if  I have  the 
opportunity.” 

A similar  miracle  of  grace  has  been  wrought  in  the 
hearts  of  many  of  the  Christians,  so  that,  while  some 
cherish  a spirit  of  bitterness  and  hatred,  a goodly  number 
are  filled  with  a desire  and  deep  purpose  to  win  the  Mos- 
lems for  Christ. 


48 


But  how  about  the  Mohammedan  attitude  toward  the 
Christians?  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  religious  leaders 
of  the  people  are  still  bitterly  opposed  to  the  return  of 
any  Christians,  either  Syrian  or  American,  and  they  are 
trying  by  every  means  in  their  power  to  keep  the  fires  of 
fanaticism  aflame.  But  the  people  are  starving,  and  they 
know  that  the  Americans  could  help  to  feed  them.  Their 
fields  and  vineyards  are  lying  waste,  and  they  know  that 
the  Christian  farmers  are  the  best  cultivators  of  the  soil. 
They  are  sick  unto  death,  and  they  remember  that  the 
American  Hospital  used  to  heal  the  sick.  Their  children 
recall  their  happy  days  in  the  Mission  school,  and  now 
there  is  no  one  to  teach  them.  The  mass  of  the  people  will 
no  longer  listen  to  the  priests  who  tell  them  the  mission- 
aries are  not  their  friends.  One  story  must  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  change  of  attitude  that  we  believe  has  taken  place 
in  many  Moslems. 

There  is  an  old  lady  of  noble  family  in  Urumia,  who 
formerly  was  very  wealthy.  When  I first  knew  her, 
twelve  years  ago,  she  was  of  the  strictest  class  of  Moham- 
medans, one  who  would  not  even  shake  hands  with  the 
missionary  ladies  when  we  called  upon  her,  because  an 
infidel  touch  would  defile  her.  When  we  were  kept  in  the 
Governor’s  yard  for  twenty-four  days  in  May  and  June, 
1919,  with  the  six  hundred  Christian  refugees,  as  told  in 
Chapter  I,  our  quarters  immediately  adjoined  the  home 
of  this  great  lady.  She  invited  me  to  come  to  see  her, 
and,  after  the  first  call,  asked  me  to  come  every  day.  I 
went,  and  frequently  one  of  the  Syrian  women  went  with 
me.  The  old  lady  said  one  day,  “Are  you  really  as  happy 
and  contented  as  you  seem  to  be?  You  have  lost  your 
home  and  everything  in  it,  and  you  live,  and  eat,  and  sleep 
on  the  floor  of  one  room,  when  I know  you  have  been  used 
to  a big  and  comfortable  house;  are  you  really  happy?” 
After  answering  her  question,  I said,  “Will  you  let  me  tell 
you  a story?  It  is  of  a man  who  was  happy  in  much 
harder  circumstances  than  these,  for  he  was  in  prison 
with  manacles  of  chains  upon  his  hands.”  She  said,  “Tell 
me.”  Then  I told  of  Paul,  how  he  had  persecuted  the 

49 


Christians  just  as  her  people  had  been  persecuting  the 
Syrian  Christians,  and  then  how  he  was  converted  and 
gave  all  his  time  and  strength  to  preaching  the  Christ 
whom  he  had  before  hated;  how  he  was  often  in  prison, 
and  beaten,  and  how  once  he  was  brought  before  a ruler 
out  of  his  prison  dungeon  to  be  asked  the  question  she 
had  asked  me ; and  he  answered  that  he  was  happy,  indeed, 
so  happy  that  he  wished  all  his  hearers  to  be  as  he  was, 
except  for  his  bonds.  Then  I said,  “I  wish  that  you  knew 
my  Christ,  who  can  make  people  glad  even  in  the  hardest 
circumstances,”  and  she  said,  “Well,  it  must  be  your  Christ, 
for  I never  knew  of  any  people  of  my  religion  who  could 
be  happy  the  way  you  and  these  other  Christians  are.” 
After  that  I told  her  many  stories  of  Jesus’s  life  on  earth, 
and  one  day  when  I dared  to  say,  “I  believe  that  many  of 
your  people,  even  some  of  those  who  have  killed  the  Chris- 
tians, will  some  day  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour,” 
she,  who  would  have  ordered  me  out  of  the  house  for 
speaking  such  blasphemy  a few  years  ago,  said  with  a 
shrug  of  her  shoulders,  “Inshallah  (if  God  wills),  it  may 
possibly  be  so.”  When  I said  good-bye  to  her  the  day 
we  left,  she  said,  “This  is  the  blackest  day  Urumia  has 
seen.  I pray  God  that  I may  live  to  see  you  and  the  other 
missionaries  come  back.”  And  she  drew  my  face  down  and 
kissed  both  my  cheeks,  she  who  a few  years  before  would 
not  have  touched  my  hands  with  her  finger  tips. 

We  cannot  shirk  the  task  by  saying,  “They  do  not  want 
us.”  Even  if  they  did  not  want  us,  they  need  us,  and 
that  is  sufficient  ground  for  going  there,  but  they  do  want 
us  and  want  us  desperately.  Will  the  Christian  Church 
make  it  possible  to  rebuild  the  waste  and  ruined  places? 
We  want  a larger  and  better-equipped  hospital  than  Persia 
has  yet  seen.  We  want  the  old  school  plants  enlarged  to 
include  kindergarten  work  for  the  mass  of  little  children 
who  have  never  dreamed  of  such  happy  play  and  joyful 
work;  to  include  advanced  courses  of  study  for  all,  inau- 
gurating domestic  science  for  girls  and  agriculture  for  boys. 

Two  large  fields  adjoining  the  present  hospital-college 
compound  have  been  given  to  the  Mission  by  a wealthy 

50 


Syrian,  and  the  Mission  proposes  to  turn  over  the  hospital 
side  of  the  compound  to  the  college,  thus  giving  an  ade- 
quate property  for  a splendid  agricultural  department,  in 
a country  where  the  agricultural  methods  are  still  those 
of  the  time  of  Abraham.  This  would  give  the  hospital  an 
•opportunity  to  rebuild  in  a location  nearer  the  city,  and 
for  that  reason  much  more  advantageous.  An  ideal  prop- 
erty is  obtainable,  less  than  one  thousand  yards  from  the 
city  gate,  which  gives  opportunity  for  a large  dispensary 
and  drug  room,  within  easy  reach  of  the  sick,  together 
with  adequate  hospital  buildings,  including  an  Isolation 
Building,  matron’s  home  and  nurses’  training  school,  power 
house  and  physicians’  residences. 

Besides  these  educational  and  medical  plans,  provision 
must  be  made  for  rebuilding  the  ruined  churches  and 
manning  them  with  those  who  wish  to  take  up  the  work 
of  the  pastors  who  are  gone,  who  counted  not  their  lives 
■dear  unto  themselves  and  who  are  worthy  to  be  classed 
in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Hebrews.  Not  only  must 
the  vacant  places  be  filled,  but  scores  of  new  places  must 
be  manned  with  preachers,  teachers  and  physicians. 

While  writing  this,  there  has  come  under  my  eye  the 
startling  news  that  a whole  tribe  in  Northwest  Liberia  has 
been  converted  to  Mohammedanism,  and  practically  every 
man  of  them  has  become  a Mohammedan  missionary.  It 
is  stated  that  “the  leaders  of  the  Liberian  Moslem  Move- 
ment are  exerting  every  influence  to  have  a mosque  erected 
in  every  town  and  village  in  the  country.”  Should  we 
who  follow  the  Kingly  Christ,  and  who  have  “the  vision 
glorious,”  fall  behind  the  servants  of  the  false  prophet  ? 
Will  Christian  America  rest  in  her  ease  and  comfort  while 
the  world  is  dying  for  lack  of  the  gospel  that  has  been 
the  source  of  all  her  jov?  God  spoke  of  old,  through  his 
prophet  Ezekiel,  to  a people  who  were  too  selfish  and 
lazy  to  give  the  message  of  life.  He  said,  “When  I say 
unto  the  wicked,  ‘thou  shalt  surely  die’  and  thou  givest 
him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the  wicked  from 
his  wicked  way  to  save  his  life,  the  same  wicked  man  shall 

51 


die  in  his  iniquity,  but  his  blood  will  I require  at  thine 
hand.” 

We  are  proud  to  recall  with  what  fine  enthusiasm  and 
high  ideals  America  entered  the  war.  Let  us  seriously 
ask  ourselves  what  has  become  of  that  splendid  spirit. 
The  war  may  be  over  in  the  sense  that  peace  has  been 
declared,  but  the  sufferings  of  the  world  across  the  water, 
especially  in  the  Near  East,  were  never  greater  than  they 
are  now,  and  America  is  getting  out  from  under  the  world’s 
load,  her  idealism  choked  by  the  fog  of  comfort  and  the 
smoke  of  politics.  As  some  one  has  well  said,  “She  has 
made  a political  toy  of  the  Peace  Treaty  and  has  come 
near  nullifying  all  the  splendid  effects  of  our  participa- 
tion in  the  war.”  America  comes  dangerously  near  appear- 
ing to  the  rest  of  the  world  as  a quitter,  and  is  anything 
more  contemptible  than  that?  Oh,  deaf  to  the  world’s  cry 
of  need ! Oh,  blind  to  the  God-given  opportunity  to  be 
a “Big  Brother”  to  the  little  fellows  in  the  world  family ! 
Would  that  some  trumpet  call  would  waken  us  before  it 
is  too  late,  before  the  little  fellows  die  for  lack  of  the  help 
we  might  give,  and  before  we  die  from  the  dry-rot  of 
selfishness ! “Behold,  I have  set  before  thee  an  open 
door!”  Will  America  accept  the  opportunity,  or  will  she 
fail? 


1920 

STATISTICS  FOR  EASTERN 
PERSIA  MISSION 

Established  1872 

Principal  Stations  6 

Out  Stations  4 

American  Missionaries  40 

Native  Force  76 

Organized  Churches  4 

Unorganized  groups  of  believers  81 

Communicants  502 

Adherents  1,188 

Sunday  School  Membership  557 

EDUCATIONAL  STATISTICS 

Kindergartens  1 

Pupils  33 

Primary  and  Intermediate  Classes 8 

Pupils  , 1,088 

High  Schools  3 

Pupils 118 

Printing  Press  — 

MEDICAL  STATISTICS 

Hospitals  4 

In-patients  873 

Dispensaries  7 

Out-patient  Visit*  34,706 


53 


J 

1920 

STATISTICS  FOR  WEST 
PERSIA  MISSION 

Established  1835 

Principal  Stations  2 

Out  Stations  7 

American  Missionaries  35 

Native  Force  39 

Organized  Churches  1 

Unorganized  groups  of  believers  8 

Communicants  588 

Adherents  1,250 

Sunday  School  Membership  750 

%0 

EDUCATIONAL  STATISTICS 

Kindergartens  1 

Pupils  12 

Primary  and  Intermediate  Classes  3 

Pupils  695 

High  Schools  1 

Pupils  55 

Printing  Press  (not  in  operation)  1 

MEDICAL  STATISTICS 

Hospitals  1 

In-patients  100 

Dispensaries  2 

Out-patient  Visits  9,500 


54 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


"The  Persian  Revolution  of  1905-09”  (very  good). — 
Browne  Cambridge. 

“Persia  Past  and  Present/’  1906. — Jackson,  A.  V.  W., 
spent  a winter  in  Urumia. 

"Life  in  the  Moslem  East.” — Ponafidine  (married  Miss 
Cochran  and  she  with  two  of  her  three  sons  and  hus- 
band were  murdered  by  the  Bolsheviks),  1911. 

“The  Strangling  of  Persia.” — Shuster,  W.  M.,  1912. 

“Persia  and  Its  Peoples.” — Sykes,  F.  C.,  1910. 

“The  Foreign  Doctor.” — R.  E.  Speer,  1911  (out  of  print, 
but  in  libraries). 

“Twenty  Years  in  Persia.” — J.  C.  Wishard  (very  good), 
1908. 

“Death  of  a Nation.” — A.  Yohanan,  D.  C.,  1916  (one  of 
the  latest). 

“Bahaism  and  Its  Claims”  (most  authentic  book  on  sub- 
ject).— S.  G.  Wilson. 

“Modern  Movements  Among  Moslems.” — Same  author  and 
very  good. 


55 


INNIS  4 SONS 


